Abstract
Crystallization behaviour of polylactic acid/cellulose (PLA/CELL) and linear low-density polyethylene/cellulose (LDPE/CELL) composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy equipped with hot-stage. The effect of addition of cellulose on thermal properties of PLA/CELL and LDPE/CELL composites was considered. The DSC experiments were performed at different scanning rates. For pure PLA the crystallization peak at T = 98.8 °C was observed in DSC scans at 20 °C/min with the corresponding melting peak at 110.1 °C. With addition of cellulose no crystallization peaks and melting peaks related to them were found. For all samples cold crystallization peaks at around 130 °C and corresponding melting peaks at 152–153 °C were observed in endotherms. Cold crystallinity is strongly affected by cellulose content: the higher the cellulose content, the higher is the cold crystallinity of the samples. At the same time overall crystallinity for all PLA/cellulose composites is negligible contrary to pure PLA, which is slightly crystalline. Unlike PLA, LDPE and its composites have no cold crystallization, which is a usual behaviour for LDPE materials. A general crystallization/melting behaviour of LDPE/cellulose composites is identical to that of pure LDPE. However, the crystallinity of LDPE/composites decreases with increasing cellulose content.
Highlights
Crystallization behaviour of polylactic acid/cellulose (PLA/CELL) and linear low-density polyethylene/cellulose (LDPE/CELL) composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy equipped with hot-stage
The pure PLA is characterized by glass transition temperature Tg at 58.0 °C, which agrees with literature data [7], the crystallization peak at Tc = 98.8 °C (Fig. 1a, marked with C), and the corresponding melting peak Tm at 110.1 °C
A similar behaviour was observed in work [7] for PLA composites: the degree of crystallinity of composites with different cellulose reinforcements decreased compared to pure PLA
Summary
Crystallization behaviour of polylactic acid/cellulose (PLA/CELL) and linear low-density polyethylene/cellulose (LDPE/CELL) composites was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy equipped with hot-stage. The effect of addition of cellulose on thermal properties of PLA/CELL and LDPE/CELL composites was considered. For pure PLA the crystallization peak at T = 98.8 °C was observed in DSC scans at 20 °C/min with the corresponding melting peak at 110.1 °C. For all samples cold crystallization peaks at around 130 °C and corresponding melting peaks at 152–153 °C were observed in endotherms. A general crystallization/melting behaviour of LDPE/cellulose composites is identical to that of pure LDPE. Biopolymers, and synthetic polymers based on annually renewable resources are the basis for the twenty-first-century portfolio of sustainable, eco-efficient plastics. In this direction, polylactide (PLA) is one of the most promising candidates. Favourable composites, are expected to be made from costly sustainable plastics in combination with inexpensive natural reinforcement fibres
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