Hydrothermal ageing of polylactide/sisal biocomposites: Studies of water absorption behaviour and Physico-Chemical performanceShow others and affiliations
2014 (English)In: Polymer degradation and stability, ISSN 0141-3910, E-ISSN 1873-2321, Vol. 108, no special issue, p. 212-222Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
An accelerated hydrothermal degrading test was designed in order to analyse the synergic effect of water and temperature on PLA/sisal biocomposites with and without coupling agent. As well, the physicochemical properties of biocomposites were monitored along the hydrothermal test by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy, Size Exclusion Chromatography and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. The addition of fibre induced higher water absorption capability and promoted physical degradation, as observed in the surface topography. During the processing of biocomposites and throughout the hydrothermal ageing, a reduction of molecular weight due to chain scission was found. As a consequence, a faster formation of crystalline domains in the PIA matrix occurred the higher the amount of fibre was, which acted as a nucleating agent. Higher crystallinity was considered as a barrier against the advance of penetrant and a reduction in the diffusion coefficient was shown. The addition of coupling agent presented a different influence depending on the composition, showing an inflection point around 20% of sisal fibre. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier , 2014. Vol. 108, no special issue, p. 212-222
Keywords [en]
Biocomposites, Polylactide (PLA), Natural fibres, Sisal, Hydrothermal, degradation, Water absorption
National Category
Polymer Technologies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:his:diva-16609DOI: 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2014.06.010ISI: 000343380800026Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84903221897OAI: oai:DiVA.org:his-16609DiVA, id: diva2:1286963
Conference
4th International Conference on Biodegradable and Biobased Polymers (BIOPOL), OCT 01-03, 2013, Univ Perugia, Rome, ITALY
2019-02-082019-02-082019-11-26Bibliographically approved