Crystallization and Thermal Degradation of Green Nanocomposites Based on Lignin Coated Cellulose Nanocrystals and Poly(Lactic Acid)

Abstract:

Cellulose is almost inexhaustible source of raw material comprising at least one-third of all biomass matter. Through deconstruction of cellulose hierarchical structure can be extracted highly crystalline cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) with impressive properties. However, the main barrier in the processing of the nanocomposites based on CNC is their inhomogeneous dispersion and distribution in the non-polar polymer matrix. In this paper is this problem addressed by use of novel hydrophobic lignin coated CNC as a biobased nucleation agents in poly (lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites. These green nanocomposites based on natural plant derived substances have enormous potential to replace materials originated from non-renewable resources and show promise of providing degradation back into the environment when they are no longer needed. Resulted composites prepared by twin screw extrusion and injection moulding were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The addition of L-CNC (1, 2 and 3 wt. %) into PLA increased melt crystallization enthalpy and decreases the cold crystallization enthalpy. The degree of crystallinity (c_c) increased from 5.6 % (virgin PLA) to 8.5 % (PLA/1-L-CNC), 10.3 % (PLA/2-L-CNC) and 10.7 % (PLA/3-L-CNC). The wide range of degradation temperatures of lignin coating has been observed starting at 100 °C.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 737)
• Pages: 256-261
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.737.256
• Online since: June 2017
• Authors: Martin Boruvka*, Luboš Bĕhálek
• Keywords: Cellulose Nanocrystals, Green Composites, Lignin, Nanocomposites, Poly(lactic acid)

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