title: Bio-based polyurethane reinforced with cellulose nanofibers: a comprehensive investigation on the effect of interface.
abstract: Novel bio-based polyurethane (PU) nanocomposites composed of cellulose nanofiller extracted from the rachis of date palm tree and polycaprolactone (PCL) diol based PU were prepared by casting/evaporation. Two types of nanofiber were used: cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). The mechanical and thermal properties of the nanocomposite films were studied by DMA, DSC, and tensile tests and the morphology was investigated by SEM. Bionanocomposites presented good mechanical properties in comparison to neat PU. While comparing both nanofillers, the improvement in mechanical and thermal properties was more pronounced for the nanocomposites based on CNF which could be explained, not only by the higher aspect ratio of CNF, but also by their better dispersion in the PU matrix. Calculation of the solubility parameters of the nanofiller surface polymers and of the PU segments portend a better interfacial adhesion for CNF based nanocomposites compared to CNC.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, Laboratory of Organometallic and Macromolecular Chemistry-Composite Materials, Cadi Ayyad University, Avenue Abdelkrim Elkhattabi, B.P. 549, Marrakech 40000, Morocco; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LGP2, F-38000 Grenoble, France; CNRS, LGP2, F-38000 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Benhamou
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences and Technologies, Laboratory of Organometallic and Macromolecular Chemistry-Composite Materials, Cadi Ayyad University, Avenue Abdelkrim Elkhattabi, B.P. 549, Marrakech 40000, Morocco. Electronic address: h.kaddami@uca.ma.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kaddami
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Rhéologie et Procédés, Grenoble-INP, UJF Grenoble 1, UMR CNRS 5520, B.P. 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Magnin
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, LGP2, F-38000 Grenoble, France; CNRS, LGP2, F-38000 Grenoble, France. Electronic address: alain.dufresne@pagora.grenoble-inp.fr.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dufresne
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Azizan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry*; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011140:Polyurethanes; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Cellulose nanofibers; Interface; Nanocomposites; PCL-based polyurethane; Solubility parameters