Morphological and Mechanical Investigation of Recycled PLA Bionanocomposite Reinforced by Cellulose Nanofibers

Recycled polylactic acid (rPLA) bio-nanocomposite reinforced by cellulose nanofiber (CNF) was prepared through melt compounding process followed by compression molding technique. Microscopic images showed that the fracture surface roughness of samples was increased by adding CNF, and at low concentration of CNF, a well-distributed morphology of nanofibers was achieved. In addition, the modulus and strength of bio-nanocomposite contain 3wt.% CNF were increased by 35.8% and 36.4%, respectively, while the elongation at break and work of fracture were decreased to 35.5 % and 33 %, respectively. This composite can be utilized as a substitute for food packaging applications instead of common petroleum polymers