Poly(lactic acid) crystallization

Processing and characterization of natural cellulose fibers/thermoset polymer composites.

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Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

This century has witnessed remarkable achievements in green technology in material science through the development of natural fiber reinforced composites. The development of high-performance engineering products made from natural resources is increasing worldwide day by day. There is increasing interest in materials demonstrating efficient use of renewable resources. Nowadays, more than ever, companies are faced with opportunities and choices in material innovations. Due to the challenges of petroleum-based products and the need to find renewable solutions, more and more companies are looking at natural fiber composite materials. The primary driving forces for new bio-composite materials are the cost of natural fibers (currently priced at one-third of the cost of glass fiber or less), weight reduction (these fibers are half the weight of glass fiber), recycling (natural fiber composites are easier to recycle) and the desire for green products. This Review provides an overview of natural fiber reinfocred composites focusing on natural fiber types and sources, processing methods, modification of fibers, matrices (petrochemical and renewable), and their mechanical performance. It also focuses on future research, recent developments and applications and concludes with key issues that need to be resolved. This article critically summarizes the essential findings of the mostly readily utilized reinforced natural fibers in polymeric composite materials and their performance from 2000 to 2013.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/mame.201300008

Progress Report on Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites

Nanocellulose, a tiny fiber with huge applications

In recent years renewed interest on the development of biopolymers, based on constituents obtained from natural resources is gaining much attention. Natural fibres such as kenaf, hemp, flax, jute, bamboo, elephant grass and sisal based polymer with thermoplastic and thermoset matrices offer reductions in weight, cost and carbon dioxide emission, less reliance on foreign oil resources and recyclability. Reinforced biopolymer with natural fibres is the future of “green composites” addressing many sustainability issues. Among the available biopolymer, PLA (polylactide) is the only natural resource polymer produced at a large scale of over 140,000 tonnes per year. Natural fibre reinforced PLA based biocomposites are widely investigated by the polymer scientists in the last decade to compete with non renewable petroleum based products. The type of fibre used plays an important role in fibre/matrix adhesion and thereby affects the mechanical performance of the biocomposites. The aim of this review is to investigate the effects of processing methods, fibre length, fibre orientation, fibre-volume fraction, and fibre-surface treatment on the fibre/matrix adhesion and mechanical properties of natural-fibre-reinforced PLA composites. Although much work has been performed to engineer the design of such superior biocomposites, the information is scattered in nature. A comprehensive review on the major technical considerations undertaken to prepare such biocomposites over the last decade is investigated to address the feasibility of wide scale industrial acceptance to such biocomposites. A brief review on the available natural fibres and biopolymer is also given for a comparative study.

PLA Based Biopolymer Reinforced with Natural Fibre: A Review

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has great potentials to be processed into films for packaging applications. However, film production is difficult to carry out due to the brittleness and low melt strength of PLA. In this investigation, linear PLA (L-PLA) was plasticized with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) having MW of 1000 g mol−1 in various PEG concentrations (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt%). In relation to plasticizer content, the impact resistance and crystallinity of L-PLA was increased, whereas a decrease in glass transition temperature and lower stiffness was observed. Nevertheless, the phase separation has been found in samples which contained PEG greater than 10 wt%. The dynamic and shear rheological studies showed that the plasticized PLA possessed lower viscosity and more pronounced elastic properties than that of pure PLA. Both storage and loss moduli decreased with PEG loading at all frequencies while storage modulus exhibited weak frequency dependence with increasing PEG content. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers

/pdf/properties-of-linear-poly-lactic-acid-polyethylene-glycol-32x7juryhd.pdf

Nhol Kao

Papers

PLA Based Biopolymer Reinforced with Natural Fibre: A Review

Properties of linear poly(lactic acid)/polyethylene glycol blends

Morphology, electromagnetic properties and electromagnetic interference shielding performance of poly lactide/graphene nanoplatelet nanocomposites

Dielectric properties and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness of graphene-based biodegradable nanocomposites

Improved dispersion of cellulose microcrystals in polylactic acid (PLA) based composites applying surface acetylation