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Morphological investigation of cellulose acetate/cellulose nanocrystal composites obtained by melt extrusion
Author(s) -
Leite Liliane Samara Ferreira,
Battirola Liliane Cristina,
da Silva Laura Caetano Escobar,
Gonçalves Maria do Carmo
Publication year - 2016
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.44201
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , extrusion , thermal stability , cellulose , dispersion (optics) , transmission electron microscopy , scanning electron microscope , modulus , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , physics , optics , engineering
Composites were prepared from cellulose acetate (CA) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) by melt extrusion using two methods for the introduction of CNC: direct mixing and predispersion in CA solution. CNC were isolated using hydrochloric acid to increase thermal stability allowing the composites to be processed above 150 °C. The effect of CNC dispersion on the composites morphology, thermal, and mechanical properties was investigated. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy results indicated that the predispersion method allows better CNC dispersion and distribution when compared to the direct mixture method. In addition, predispersion promotes preferential CNC orientation in relation to the injection flow. The predispersion method also showed a 14% Young's modulus increase in composites containing 15 wt % CNC while no significant change was observed when using the direct mixing. The results obtained in this work show that, to achieve the percolation threshold, nanoparticle distribution is as important as their content. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133 , 44201.