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Surface-modification of cellulose nanowhiskers and their use as nanoreinforcers into polylactide: A sustainably-integrated approach

2011; Elsevier BV; Volume: 72; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.compscitech.2011.11.017

1879-1050

Jean‐Marie Raquez, Y. Murena, Anne‐Lise Goffin, Youssef Habibi, Benoît Ruelle, F. DeBuyl, Philippe Dúbois,

Nanocomposite Films for Food Packaging

In this study, bionanocomposites based on renewable cellulose nanowhiskers (CNWs) as nanofillers and renewable poly(l-lactide) (PLA) as polymeric matrix were successfully and straightforwardly prepared using melt-extrusion technique. Due to the affinity difference between hydrophobic PLA and hydrophilic CNWs, the surface of CNWs was directly modified in aqueous suspension (pH = 5.4 – citrate buffer) at ambient temperature in the presence of functional trialkoxysilanes bearing various organic moieties (alkyl, amino, and (meth)acryloxy). The surface-functionalization of CNWs was first investigated using methacryloxy-based trialkoxysilane as model. The influence of parameters such as the amount of silane agents and the post-treatment conditions were optimized on the surface-modification of methacryloxy-modified CNWs. FT-IR, TEM, WAXS and XPS analyses provided further evidences about the efficiency of the surface-modifications of CNWs. In a subsequent step, the chemically modified CNWs were successfully incorporated into PLA by melt-extrusion in the absence of solvent, without any alterations of their nanostructure after melt-processing. The thermal/mechanical properties of the resulting bionanocomposites were determined and shown to be enhanced when silanized CNWs were used as nanofillers.