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Polylactide‐recycled wood fiber composites
Author(s) -
Pilla Srikanth,
Gong Shaoqin,
O'Neill Eric,
Yang Liqiang,
Rowell Roger M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.28860
Subject(s) - composite material , materials science , crystallinity , ultimate tensile strength , scanning electron microscope , silane , differential scanning calorimetry , injection moulding , fiber , molding (decorative) , physics , thermodynamics
Abstract Polylactide (PLA)‐recycled wood fiber (RWF) composites with a small amount of silane were compounded using a kinetic‐mixer and molded using an injection molding machine. The molded PLA‐RWF composites were characterized using gel permeation chromatography, scanning electron microscope, X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter, tensile testing machine, and a dynamic mechanical analyzer. As observed in the stress–strain plots, the amount of necking before fracture decreased with an increasing RWF content. Similarly, the strain‐at‐break also decreased with the RWF content. The tensile strength remained the same irrespective of the RWF content. Both the tensile modulus and the storage modulus of the PLA‐RWF composites increased with the RWF content. The degree of crystallinity of the PLA increased with the addition of RWF. No reduction in the number–average molecular weight ( M n ) was observed for pure PLA and PLA‐10%RWF‐0.5%Silane composites after injection molding; however, substantial reduction in M n was found in PLA‐20%RWF‐0.5%Silane composites. Finally, a theoretical model based on Halpin–Tsai empirical relations is presented to compare the theoretical results with that of the experimental results. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009