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Morphological investigation of polylactide/microfibrillated cellulose composites

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Abstract

Optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy have been used to investigate the morphology of polylactide (PLA)/microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) composites prepared by: compression molding of wet-comingled MFC and PLA latex or powder, twin-screw extrusion of the wet-comingled compounds, and solvent mixing of PLA with MFC or acetylated MFC. Compression molding of wet-comingled MFC and PLA latex or powder compounds resulted in a cellular MFC network, whereas solvent-cast films showed a more uniform dispersion of MFC fibers. Somewhat lower aggregate diameters observed in the acetylated MFC were assumed to be due to decreased MFC hydrophilicity and improved chemical affinity with the PLA matrix. The MFC networks in the commingled compounds were severely disrupted after twin-screw extrusion. This confirmed the limited deformability of the networks inferred from the extensive syneresis during the initial compression molding step, and accounted for substantial losses in stiffness reinforcement by the MFC after extrusion.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by the SustainComp project (grant no.214660) in the Seventh Research Framework Program (FP7) of the European Union (EU). The authors would like to express their thanks to Karolina Larsson and Mikael Ankerfors of Inventia, and Philippe Tingaut and Tanya Zimmermann of EMPA for providing materials and help with specimen preparation, and the Electron Microscopy Center (CIME) of the EPFL for technical support.

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  1. Laboratoire de Technologie des Composites et Polymères (LTC), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Station 12, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Christopher J. G. Plummer, Caleb K. C. Choo, Carole I. R. Boissard, Pierre-Etienne Bourban & Jan-Anders E. Månson

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  1. Christopher J. G. Plummer
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  2. Caleb K. C. Choo
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  3. Carole I. R. Boissard
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  5. Jan-Anders E. Månson
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Correspondence to Christopher J. G. Plummer.

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Plummer, C.J.G., Choo, C.K.C., Boissard, C.I.R. et al. Morphological investigation of polylactide/microfibrillated cellulose composites. Colloid Polym Sci 291, 2203–2211 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-013-2968-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00396-013-2968-z

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