Functionalized cellulose nanocrystals as the performance regulators of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate) biocomposites

Jianxiang Chen; Runmiao Yang; Junfei Ou; Chuang Tang; Meng Xiang; Defeng Wu; Juntao Tang; Kam C Tam

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116399

Functionalized cellulose nanocrystals as the performance regulators of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate) biocomposites

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Aug 15:242:116399. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116399. Epub 2020 May 12.

Authors

Jianxiang Chen¹, Runmiao Yang², Junfei Ou², Chuang Tang², Meng Xiang², Defeng Wu³, Juntao Tang⁴, Kam C Tam⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, 213001, China. Electronic address: chenjianxiang@jsut.edu.cn.
² Department of Materials Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, 213001, China.
³ Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Jiangsu, 225002, China.
⁴ College of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, N2L3G1, Canada.

PMID: 32564863
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116399

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between functional groups on cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) and the performance of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate) (PHBV), the surface of CNC was modified by surface graft modification and PHBV/CNC biocomposites were prepared by melt blending. To demonstrate the interfacial adhesion difference between hydrophobic PHBV and hydrophilic CNC, palmitoyl chloride and ε-caprolactone had been used to tailor the oleophilic property of CNC. Results showed that CNC had heterogeneous nucleation effect on the crystallization process of PHBV, while the entanglement of molecular chains weakened the promoting functions of CNC-g-C16 (CNC grafted with palmitoyl chloride) and CNC-g-CL (CNC grafted with ε-caprolactone). Furthermore, CNC-g-CL exhibited better interfacial adhesion with PHBV when compared with CNC-g-C16. And 1 wt% CNC-g-CL improved the tensile strength of PHBV biocomposite to 38.09 MPa, which is 26.25% higher than PHBV.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Crystallization; Mechanical properties; Poly(β-hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate).

MeSH terms

Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
Cellulose / chemistry*
Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Particle Size
Polyesters / chemistry*
Surface Properties

Substances

Biocompatible Materials
Polyesters
poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(3-hydroxyvalerate)
Cellulose