Poly(butylene succinate) reinforced by small amount of grafted nanofibrillated bacterial cellulose: Toughness variability based on nanocomposites preparation method

Abstract

Polybutylene succinate (PBS) is a promising biodegradable polymer; however, its low mechanical performance limits its application. To address this issue, long fiber length nanofibrillated bacterial cellulose (HP-NFBC), produced by a bottom-up process using cellulose-producing bacterium and hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as a dispersing agent was used as reinforcement agent. Hydrophobic moieties were grafted on HP-NFBC surface to increase surface compatibility. Nanocomposites prepared by both solvent casting and melt-kneading were evaluated. By solvent casting, the addition of 0.25 wt% of grafted HP-NFBC increased the toughness by 212%. Melt-kneading revealed an increase in flexural strength and young’s modulus. More evident improvement was observed when the nanocomposites were annealed, and the ultimate strength increased by 113 % at 2 wt% of grafted HP-NFBC incorporation. Great increased in toughness were achieved only by small incorporation of grafted HP-NFBC. Additionally, compost biodegradation tests were conducted to confirm that the nanocomposites had biodegradability similar to that of PBS.