title: Structure and mechanical properties of new biomass-based nanocomposite: castor oil-based polyurethane reinforced with acetylated cellulose nanocrystal.
abstract: New nanocomposites consisting of a castor oil-based polyurethane matrix filled with acetylated cellulose nanocrystals (ACNs) were developed. The ACN exhibited improved dispersion in tetrahydrofuran as a blending medium, and reduced polarity as compared with unmodified cellulose nanocrystals, resulting in a high loading level of 25 wt% in the nanocomposite. As the ACN loading-level increased from 0% to 25%, the tensile strength and Young's modulus of the nanocomposites increased from 2.79 MPa to 10.41 MPa and from 0.98 MPa to 42.61 MPa, respectively. When the ACN loading-level was 10 wt%, the breaking elongation of the nanocomposites reached the maximum value of more than twice that of the polyurethane. The enhanced mechanical performance was primarily attributed to the formation of a three-dimensional ACN network and strong interfacial interactions between filler and matrix. This work produced new polyurethane-based nanocomposites containing modified cellulose nanocrystal with a high biomass content. Its high performance could contribute to potential applications.
authors.affiliation: College of Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Siwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Yixiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Qiaoxin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D018533:Biomass; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002368:Castor Oil / Q000737:chemistry*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D011140:Polyurethanes; D002368:Castor Oil; D002482:Cellulose