Contribution of lignin in esterified lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) prepared by deep eutectic solvent treatment to the interface compatibility of LCNF/PLA composites
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Zhiguo Wang; Qing Zhang; Lisha Ma; Yimin Fan; Ruoteng Ma; Lili Zhang
- Source
- Industrial Crops and Products. 166:113460
- Subject
- 0106 biological sciences
Materials science
010405 organic chemistry
01 natural sciences
0104 chemical sciences
Deep eutectic solvent
Colloid
chemistry.chemical_compound
chemistry
Polylactic acid
Nanofiber
medicine
Lignin
Adhesive
Composite material
Swelling
medicine.symptom
Agronomy and Crop Science
010606 plant biology & botany
Choline chloride
- Language
- ISSN
- 0926-6690
It is important to improve the interface compatibility between lignocelluloses (LCs) and biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) for the preparation of strong composite materials. In the current study, esterified lignocellulose nanofibers (LCNFs) with high yield were prepared from LCs with different lignin contents (0.83–17.45 %) by swelling with a lactic acid/choline chloride deep eutectic solvent (LA/ChCl DES) at 100 ℃ for 3 h followed by mechanical colloid milling. Esterification occurred along with nanofibrillation of the LCs to obtain LCNFs having ester bonds with diameters mostly less than 100 nm. Lignin remained in the LCNFs with various contents. Uniform LCNF/PLA composites were prepared by a direct blending method. Lignin in the esterified LCNFs acted as an interface adhesive and played a key role in increasing the LCNFs interface compatibility with PLA, as well as strengthening the mechanical properties of the composites. The optimized flexural properties of the composites reached a maximum value of 204.5 MPa when 20 % LCNF (containing 10.92 % lignin) was added, which was 120.6 % higher than that of pure PLA. The prepared high-strength biodegradable composites have broad application prospects and great potential to replace non-degradable plastics.