Preparation and characterization of poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate/nanocrystalline cellulose composites via solvent casting

Abstract

Abstract The effect of nanocrystalline cellulose dispersion on the nonisothermal crystallization of poly(ethylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PEF) has been investigated by means of solvent casting. The cellulose dispersion plays a significant role on the crystallization temperature, thus dispersive equipments of increasing energies were employed to improve the cellulose particles disaggregation. Therefore, ultra-sonic bath, ultra-sonication, and ultra-turrax were used to disperse cellulose nanocrystals in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol. Dissolved separately in the same solvent, PEF was then poured into the cellulose suspension before casting. The cellulose whiskers were inspected by transmission electron microscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to measure the crystallization temperature, while scanning electron microscopy visualized the cellulose dispersion at the fracture surface. After investigation on the interaction of cellulose/PEF via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the thermal stability of the blends was measured by means of thermogravimetric analysis.