Abstract
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/polycaprolactone (PHBV/PCL) polymer mixtures reinforced by cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have been obtained. To improve the CNC compatibility with the hydrophobic PHBV/PCL matrix, the CNC surface was modified by amphiphilic polymers, i.e., polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyacrylamide (PAM). The polymer composites were characterized by FTIR, DSC, TG, XRD, microscopy, BET surface area, and tensile testing. The morphological, sorption, thermal, and mechanical properties of the obtained composites have been studied. It was found out that with an increase in the CNC content in the composites, the porosity of the films increased, which was reflected in an increase in their specific surface areas and water sorption. An analysis of the IR spectra confirms that hydrogen bonds can be formed between the CNC hydroxyl- and the –CO– groups of PCL and PHBV. The thermal decomposition of CNC in the PHBV/PCL/CNC composites starts at a much higher temperature than the decomposition of pure CNC. It was revealed that CNCs can either induce crystallization and the polymer crystallite growth or act as a compatibilizer of a mixture of the polymers causing their amorphization. The CNC addition significantly reduces the elongation and strength of the composites, but changes Young’s modulus insignificantly, i.e., the mechanical properties of the composites are retained under conditions of small linear deformations. A molecular-dynamics simulation of several systems, starting from simplest binary (solvent-polymer) and finishing with multi-component (CNC—polymer mixture—solvent) systems, has been made. It is concluded that the surface modification of CNCs with amphiphilic polymers makes it possible to obtain the CNC composites with hydrophobic polymer matrices.
Highlights
An effective way to regulate the supramolecular, morphological and porous materials based on PCL and PHBV may be the formation of composite films from their structure of materials based on PCL and PHBV may be the formation of composite films mixed solutions, as well as the use of fillers and reinforcing additives
The properties of PHBV/PCL mixtures have been studied in several works work, we investigated the features of PHBV/PCL/cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) composite films
We investigated the features of PHBV/PCL/CNC composite films
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cellulose is one of most available renewable natural resources with an annual production rate of about 1000 billion tons. Cellulose plays an important role in production of ecologically pure biocompatible and biodegradable functional materials. Rod-like particles of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) can be isolated from cellulose fibers under acid or enzymatic hydrolysis conditions. The dimensions of these particles ranges from 100 to 1000 nm in length and from 5 to 50 nm in diameter depending on hydrolysis conditions and raw material used [1,2]
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