Crystallization and mechanical property of fully biobased poly(hexamethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate)/cellulose nanocrystals composites

Abstract

Through a common solution and casting method, novel fully biobased poly(hexamethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PHF)/cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) composites were prepared in this research at low contents of CNC. Scanning electron microscopy result showed that CNC uniformly dispersed in the PHF matrix without obvious aggregations, even CNC content reached 1 wt%. CNC, as a relatively effective heterogeneous nucleating agent, promoted the melt crystallization of PHF under different conditions. In addition, to explore the nucleation effect, the nucleation activity as well as the nucleation efficiency of CNC were quantitively determined. In the composites, the crystallization mechanism and crystal structure of PHF remained unchanged despite the presence of CNC. Low loadings of CNC improved both the Young's modulus and the yield strength of PHF to some degree, indicating that CNC nanofiller reinforced PHF matrix. In sum, CNC improved both the crystallization and the mechanical property of PHF, favoring the potential wider application of PHF/CNC composites due to the fully biobased feature.