Cellulose Nano Crystal/Graphene Nano Platelets Hybrid Nanofillers reinforced Polylactic Acid Biocomposites: Mechanical and Morphological Properties

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced by hybrid nanofillers biocomposites had been prepared using a melt blending and compression molding technique. The mechanical properties of the PLA biocomposites was studied by incorporating various ratio of cellulose nano crystal (CNC)/graphene nano platelets (GNP) hybrid nanofillers into PLA. The morphological characterization was also carried out using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to correlate the fracture surface and nanofiller dispersion with the mechanical properties of the composites. The result show that, at the same CNC/GNP hybrid nanofiller loading (3wt %), the strength properties (tensile and flexural) of PLA biocomposites decreased with increment GNP over CNC ratio. 37.35 MPa and 53.87 MPA; 54.71 MPA and 68.22 MPA, respectively. Meanwhile, PLA biocomposites demonstrated a slight increase in tensile modulus as the GNP ratio is higher than CNC. According to the findings, CNC played an important role in enhancing strength properties while GNP was effective in enhancing the modulus properties. The morphological studies by FESEM prove that, there are relationship between fracture surface and filler dispersion with the mechanical properties of PLA biocomposites.