title: Exploring the effect of cellulose nanowhiskers isolated from oil palm biomass on polylactic acid properties.
abstract: In this work, polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced cellulose nanowhiskers (CNW) were prepared through solution casting technique. The CNW was first isolated from oil palm empty fruit bunch microcrystalline cellulose (OPEFB-MCC) by using 64% H2SO4 and was designated as CNW-S. The optical microscopy revealed that the large particle of OPEFB-MCC has been broken down by the hydrolysis treatment. The atomic force microscopy confirmed that the CNW-S obtained is in nanoscale dimension and appeared in individual rod-like character. The produced CNW-S was then incorporated with PLA at 1, 3, and 5 parts per hundred (phr) resins for the PLA-CNW-S nanocomposite production. The synthesized nanocomposites were then characterized by a mean of tensile properties and thermal stability. Interestingly to note that incorporating of 3 phr/CNW-S in PLA improved the tensile strength by 61%. Also, CNW-S loading showed a positive impact on the Young's modulus of PLA. The elongation at break (Eb) of nanocomposites, however, decreased with the addition of CNW-S. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the CNW-S dispersed well in PLA at lower filler loading before it started to agglomerate at higher CNW-S loading (5phr). The DSC analysis of the nanocomposites obtained showed that Tg,Tcc and Tm values of PLA were improved with CNW-S loading. The TGA analysis however, revealed that incopreated CNW-S in PLA effect the thermal stability (T10,T50 and Tmax) of nanocomposite, where it decrease linearly with CNW-S loading.
authors.affiliation: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: mhaafiz@usm.my.
authors.forename: M K Mohamad
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Haafiz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia. Electronic address: azman@cheme.utm.my.
authors.forename: Azman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: H P S Abdul
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Khalil
authors.affiliation: School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M R Nurul
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fazita
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400, UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Md Saiful
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia.
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Inuwa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Marliana
authors.affiliation: Lignocellulosic Research Group, School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: M Hazwan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hussin
mesh_terms: D028023:Arecaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D018533:Biomass; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D053761:Nanocomposites / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013818:Thermogravimetry
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide); D002482:Cellulose; C109691:microcrystalline cellulose
keywords: Cellulose nanowhiskers; Microcrystalline cellulose; Polylactic acid; Tensile properties; Thermal analysis