Open AccessThermal and Mechanical Properties of Flexible Poly(L-lactide)-b-polyethylene Glycol-b-poly(L-lactide)/Microcrystalline Cellulose Biocomposites
Author(s) -
Jenjira Jirum,
Yodthong Baimark
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
asian journal of chemistry/asian journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.145
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 0975-427X
pISSN - 0970-7077
DOI - 10.14233/ajchem.2021.23299
Subject(s) - biocomposite , microcrystalline cellulose , materials science , polyethylene glycol , thermogravimetric analysis , peg ratio , thermal stability , composite material , ultimate tensile strength , lactide , polylactic acid , cellulose , polymer , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , composite number , copolymer , finance , engineering , economics
In this work, flexible biocomposites were prepared through melt blending using flexible poly(L-lactide)-b-polyethylene glycol-b-poly(L-lactide) (PLLA-PEG-PLLA) as a matrix and microcrystalline cellulose(MCC) as a filler. The effects of the addition of MCC on the thermal, morphological and mechanicalproperties of PLLA-PEG-PLLA/MCC biocomposites were investigated compared to PLLA/MCCbiocomposites. Thermal stability of both PLLA and PLLA-PEG-PLLA from thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) was improved by MCC blending. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the biocompositesexhibited good phase compatibility between PLLA-PEG-PLLA matrix-MCC filler. From tensile tests,the stress and strain at break of the PLLA/MCC and PLLA-PEG-PLLA/MCC biocomposite filmsdecreased while the Young’s modulus increased as the MCC content increased. The strain at break ofPLLA-based and PLLA-PEG-PLLA based biocomposite films containing 20 wt.% MCC were 2%and 162%, respectively. Thus, the PLLA-PEG-PLLA/MCC biocomposites have potential to be usedas flexible bioplastics for packaging applications.