title: Dispersion study of nanofibrillated cellulose based poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) composites.
abstract: The production of lower cost bionanocomposites based on nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) is a promising source to develop the next generation of light weight and high performance materials for a variety of defense, infrastructure and energy applications. In this study, a series of bio-nanocomposites were developed by reinforcing NFC from regenerated wood fiber into poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) by injection molding. The incorporation of NFC in PBAT matrix (0.2-1 wt%) increased the storage modulus (G') and dynamic viscosity (η') as revealed by shear rheology, indicating a percolation threshold around 0.2-0.5 wt% region. DSC analysis showed similar trends with slight improvement of glass transition (Tg) and crystallization temperature (Tc). Percentage crystallinity, as calculated from heat of fusion equation and taking into account 100% crystallized PBAT data improved in overall. This is a fundamental study aimed at understanding the morphological, rheological and thermal evaluation of such nanocomposites for an improved dispersion of NFC as filler in the matrix.
authors: Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: tapashi.mukherjee@rmit.edu.au.
authors: Tapasi
authors: T
authors: Mukherjee
authors: Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: michael.czaka@rmit.edu.au.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Czaka
authors: Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: nhol.kao@rmit.edu.au.
authors: Nhol
authors: N
authors: Kao
authors: Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: rahul.gupta@rmit.edu.au.
authors: Rahul K
authors: RK
authors: Gupta
authors: Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 402-751, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: hjchoi@inha.ac.kr.
authors: Hyoung Jin
authors: HJ
authors: Choi
authors: Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia. Electronic address: sati.bhattacharya@rmit.edu.au.
authors: Sati
authors: S
authors: Bhattacharya
keywords: Bionanocomposites; Nanocomposites; Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC); Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT); Rheology