High mechanical properties of micro fibrillated cellulose/HDPE composites prepared with two different methods

Abstract

Compared to materials fabricated by traditional polymer, cellulose was chosen to improve the strength of composites due to its excellent performance in mechanical and thermal expansion properties. However, in the current investigation of manufacturing cellulose nanofibril (CNF)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites, the instinct of CNF tends to aggregate, limiting the content of CNFs in composites (mostly no more than 10 wt%). Herein, we reported two green and continuous manufacturing methods, naming “suspension blending method” and “dry blending method”. Micro fibrillated cellulose (MFC) was selected to enhance the stability of interfaces between HDPE with the synergetic interaction of cationic polyacrylamide, resulting in the flexural strength of ~ 78.87 MPa and the flexural modulus of ~ 3.45 GPa, which are ~ 190.12% and ~ 315.66% higher than pure HDPE respectively. Besides, the thermal expansion coefficient of our samples is ~ 28.9 ppm/k, ~ 80.3% lower than those made by HDPE. The prepared MFC/HDPE composites are expected to pave the way for the development in auto manufacturing and engineering.