Nanocomposites of Poly(lactic Acid) Reinforced with Cellulose Nanofibrils

A chemo-mechanical method was used to prepare cellulose nanofibrils dispersed uniformly in an organic solvent. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG 1000) was added to the matrix as a compatibilizer to improve the interfacial interaction between the hydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and the hydrophilic cellulose nanofibrils. The composites obtained by solvent casting methods from N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAc) were characterized by tensile testing machine, atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The tensile test results indicated that, by adding PEG to the PLA and the cellulose nanofibrils matrix, the tensile strength and the elongation rate increased by 56.7% and 60%, respectively, compared with the PLA/cellulose nanofibrils composites. The FT-IR analysis successfully showed that PEG improved the intermolecular interaction, which is based on the existence of intermolecular hydrogen bonding among PLA, PEG, and cellulose nanofibrils.