Orientation of polylactic acid–chitin nanocomposite films via combined calendering and uniaxial drawing: Effect on structure, mechanical, and thermal propertiesShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Nanomaterials, E-ISSN 2079-4991, Vol. 11, no 12, article id 3308Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The orientation of polymer composites is one way to increase the mechanical properties of the material in a desired direction. In this study, the aim was to orient chitin nanocrystal (ChNC)-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites by combining two techniques: calendering and solid-state drawing. The effect of orientation on thermal properties, crystallinity, degree of orientation, mechanical properties and microstructure was studied. The orientation affected the thermal and structural behavior of the nanocomposites. The degree of crystallinity increased from 8% for the isotropic compression-molded films to 53% for the nanocomposites drawn with the highest draw ratio. The wide-angle X-ray scattering results confirmed an orientation factor of 0.9 for the solid-state drawn nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of the oriented nanocomposite films were significantly improved by the orientation, and the pre-orientation achieved by film calendering showed very positive effects on solid-state drawn nanocomposites: The highest mechanical properties were achieved for pre-oriented nanocomposites. The stiffness increased from 2.3 to 4 GPa, the strength from 37 to 170 MPa, the elongation at break from 3 to 75%, and the work of fracture from 1 to 96 MJ/m3. This study demonstrates that the pre-orientation has positive effect on the orientation of the nanocomposites structure and that it is an extremely efficient means to produce films with high strength and toughness. © 2021 by the authors.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI , 2021. Vol. 11, no 12, article id 3308
Keywords [en]
Chitin nanocrystals, Compression molding, Directional orientation, Extrusion, Mechanical properties, Nanocomposites, PLA, X-ray
National Category
Bioengineering Equipment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-57336DOI: 10.3390/nano11123308Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85120617228OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-57336DiVA, id: diva2:1623118
Note
Funding details: Seventh Framework Programme, FP7; Funding details: European Commission, EC; Funding details: Kempestiftelserna; Funding text 1: Funding: This research was funded by Bio4Energy strategic research program, The European Union, Joint European Doctoral Programme in Advanced Material Science and Engineering (DocMASE), Treesearch Research Infrastructure is acknowledged for their financial support of the WAXS analysis.; Funding text 2: Acknowledgments: The authors thank Bio4Energy for financial support. European FP7 project ECLIPSE is acknowledged for the studied nanocomposites. The authors would like to thank Jiayuan Wei for assistance with the XRD measurements. The European Union and the Joint European Doctoral Programme in Advanced Material Science and Engineering (DocMASE) are acknowledged for the scholarship for Shikha Singh. The Kempe Foundation is acknowledged for support of the infrastructure.; Funding text 3: This research was funded by Bio4Energy strategic research program, The European Union, Joint European Doctoral Programme in Advanced Material Science and Engineering (DocMASE), Treesearch Research Infrastructure is acknowledged for their financial support of the WAXS analysis.The authors thank Bio4Energy for financial support. European FP7 project ECLIPSE is acknowledged for the studied nanocomposites. The authors would like to thank Jiayuan Wei for assistance with the XRD measurements. The European Union and the Joint European Doctoral Programme in Advanced Material Science and Engineering (DocMASE) are acknowledged for the scholarship for Shikha Singh. The Kempe Foundation is acknowledged for support of the infrastructure.
2021-12-282021-12-282021-12-28Bibliographically approved