Production of Biocomposites Using Different Pre-treated Cut Jute Fibre and Polylactic Acid Matrix and Their Properties

ABSTRACT

The extensive use of petroleum-based plastics has led to serious environmental problems worldwide. A viable alternative is to replace these polymers with those that are biodegradable. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer with properties that are similar to petroleum-based polymers. However, it has some drawbacks such as brittleness, poor impact strength, low heat distortion, and poor difficulties in thermal stability during processing. In this study, we describe the use of modified jute fibres to reinforce the PLA polymer matrix in order to improve its adhesion. Biocomposites of PLA and cut jute fibres (CJF) were prepared by extrusion. The CJF were modified using three different physical and chemical pretreatments (alkaline, maleic anhydride functionalization, and gamma irradiation). The results showed improvement in the mechanical, thermal, structural, and morphological properties of PLA biocomposites with 10% wt. CJF that were subjected to gamma irradiation at 50 kGy. The biocomposites developed could be used for rigid food packaging and are a good alternative for reducing domestic dependence on petroleum-based thermoplastics.

摘要

石油基塑料的广泛使用导致了世界范围内严重的环境问题.一个可行的替代方案是用那些可生物降解的聚合物代替这些聚合物. 聚乳酸（PLA）是一种可生物降解的聚合物，其性质类似于石油基聚合物. 但它存在脆性大、冲击强度差、热变形小、加工过程热稳定性差等缺点. 在这项研究中，我们描述了使用改性黄麻纤维增强聚乳酸聚合物基体，以改善其粘附性. 采用挤压法制备了聚乳酸与黄麻纤维的生物复合材料. 用三种不同的物理和化学预处理（碱性、马来酸酐功能化和γ射线辐照）对CJF进行了改性. 结果表明，质量分数为10%的聚乳酸生物复合材料的力学性能、热性能、结构性能和形态性能均有改善. 在50kgy的γ射线照射下的中日韩. 开发的生物复合材料可用于刚性食品包装，是减少国内对石油基热塑性塑料依赖的良好替代品.

KEYWORDS:

• Polylactic acid
• jute fibre
• biocomposites
• extrusion
• gamma irradiation

关键词:

• 聚乳酸
• 黄麻纤维
• 生物复合物
• 挤压
• 伽玛辐射

Acknowledgments

To the Unidad de Materiales of the Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, CICY, especially to Mr. J. Cauich and H. Carrillo for their technical assistant and thanks to Mrs. S. Andrade for her support to microphotographs by scanning electron microscopy.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.