Characterisation of natural fibre reinforced PLA foams prepared by supercritical CO2 assisted extrusion

• Main Authors: K. Bocz, T. Tabi, D. Vadas, M. Sauceau, J. Fages, Gy. Marosi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Budapest University of Technology 2016-09-01
• Series: eXPRESS Polymer Letters
• Subjects: Biopolymers, biocomposites; foam extrusion; polylactic acid; natural fibre
• Online Access: http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0007064&mi=cd

Natural fibre reinforced polylactic acid (PLA) foams, as potential green replacements for petroleum-based polymer foams, were investigated. Highly porous (ε > 95%) microcellular PLA foams were manufactured by supercritical CO2 assisted extrusion process. To overcome the inherently low melt strength of PLA, epoxy-functionalized chain extender was applied, while talc was added to improve its crystallization kinetics. The combined application of chain extender and talc effectively promoted the formation of uniform cell structures. The effect of cellulose and basalt fibre reinforcement on the foamability, morphology, structure and mechanical properties of the PLA foams were investigated as well. The addition of 5 wt% natural fibres promoted the cell nucleation, but caused non-uniform distribution of cell size due to the microholes induced by local fibre-matrix debonding. The compression strength of the manufactured basalt fibre reinforced PLA foams reached 40 kPa.