Peroxide/silane crosslinked poly(lactic acid) hybrid biocomposite reinforced with empty fruit bunch and cotton fibers for hot-fill food packaging

Abstract

A biocomposite manufactured from peroxide/silane crosslinked poly(lactic acid) reinforced with hybridized empty fruit bunch (EFB) oil palm and cotton fibers was investigated. Optimization of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and the vinyltrimethoxysilane (VTMS) crosslink system by using the 2k factorial design of experiment (DOE), with k = 2 was preliminary employed. There was no significant effect of the designed parameters, DCP(A) and VTMS(B), on the properties of the biocomposite. Concerning the environmental and economical aspects, the DPC and VTMS ratio was important. A crosslink agent content from 0.5 phr of DCP with 1 phr to 2 phr VTMS was recommended to manufacture a biocomposite with high heat distortion temperature (HDT) at above 100 °C and reasonable flow and mechanical properties. Also, the direct addition of the DCP/VTMS crosslink agent onto the PLA/rubber compound mixture and fed into a twin screw extruder for producing crosslinked PLA/EFB/cotton hybrid biocomposites were the optimized mixing methods. Shorter process line/time, ease of process steps, and reasonable engineering properties were justified. A HDT above 100 °C with a better toughness property of the biocomposite material was obtained. The PLA/PLA and PLA/ENR crosslinks via silane/moisture condensation during the sauna incubation was the prime explanation.