Flax Fibers as Reinforcement in Poly (Lactic Acid) Biodegradable Composites

Abstract

In our research, poly (lactic acid) (PLA) film was used in combination with flax fibers as reinforcement to generate biodegradable composites by a film stacking technique and hot-press. The research of the relationship between the main process parameters and the performance of the board are done by the orthogonal experiments, then the various factors to influence the performance were analyzed and the optimal parameters were determined. The results showed that with the increasing of flax addition (30%~50%) and silane addition (1%~5%), the tensile strength and modulus increased, but the flexural strength and modulus increased then decreased with the increasing of flax addition (30%~50%). During the hot-press temperature (190°C~210°C) increasing, the tensile strength, flexural strength and modulus all increased. And the optimal parameters are determined by the flax addition 40%, silane addition 5%, hotpressing temperature 190°C, and hot-pressing time 3 min. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.