The Preparation of Nano Cellulose Whiskers / Polylactic Acid Composites

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to prepare a kind of fully biodegradable nanocomposites for the sports industry. As a completely biological material, This material had not only special properties of nanomaterials, but also had the rigidity of cellulose, dimensional stability and fully biodegradable, at the same time, such material could also solve the disposal problem of waste sports equipment. With different mass fraction, cellulose nano whiskers were added to the polylactic acid matrix, and the composites were prepared by solution casting method, then nano-cellulose whiskers / polylactic acid composites were successfully made. Tests were carried out to study the water absorption, degradation and membrane mechanical properties of the composites. Compared with the pure polylactic acid, water absorption and degradation of the composites increased significantly with the mass fraction of nano-cellulose whiskers increasing. Compared with pure PLA film, the tensile strength and elongation at break of composite membranes increased significantly. When the CNW mass fraction was at 5% maximum, the mechanical properties of nanocomposite got its maximum value. By solution casting, Nano-cellulose whiskers and polylactic acid matrix successfully were prepared into nanocomposites, which had excellent mechanical properties and very good performance at biological degradation.