A comparison of the mechanical characteristics of kenaf and lyocell fibre reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) composites

作者：Graupner Nina^*; Muessig Joerg

来源：Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing , 2011, 42(12): 2010-2019.

DOI：10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.09.007

• Mechanical properties
• Compression moulding
• Thermoplastic resin
• Biodegradable polymer

Cellulose fibre-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) composites have become increasingly interesting with regard to their biodegradability and mechanical characteristics. The use of different matrices leads to variable composite characteristics. This study provides a comparison of the mechanical characteristics of compression-moulded 30 mass% lyocell and 40 mass% kenaf fibre-reinforced PLA and PHB. The results of the tensile tests showed that 30 mass% lyocell/PLA composites reached the highest tensile and bending strength with 89 and 148 N/mm(2), respectively. The highest Young's modulus was also measured for 30 mass% lyocell/PLA with 9.3 GPa, and the highest flexural modulus was measured for 40 mass% kenaf/PHB with 7.1 GPa. By far, the best impact strength was determined for lyocell/PHB with 70 kJ/m(2), followed by lyocell/PLA with 52 kJ/m(2). The investigation of the Shore D hardness resulted in a higher value for the PLA matrix with 81.5. PHB achieved a hardness of 67.5. By adding fibres as reinforcement, the Shore D hardness increased up to 83.6 for lyocell/PLA and 73.1 for kenaf/PHB. Density measurements showed lower densities for the composites with higher fibre loads (kenaf/PLA and kenaf/PHB) in comparison to the theoretical density. This speaks for a higher proportion of air inclusion in the composites which could negatively affect the mechanical composite characteristics.

• 出版日期2011-12