Artigo Revisado por pares

Lignocellulose Nanofiber-Reinforced Polystyrene Produced from Composite Microspheres Obtained in Suspension Polymerization Shows Superior Mechanical Performance

2016; American Chemical Society; Volume: 8; Issue: 21 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/acsami.6b01992

ISSN

1944-8252

Autores

Daniel Ballner, Sabine Herzele, Jozef Kečkéš, Matthias Edler, Thomas Grießer, Bodo Saake, Falk Liebner, Antje Potthast, Christian Paulik, Wolfgang Gindl‐Altmutter,

Tópico(s)

Natural Fiber Reinforced Composites

Resumo

A facile approach to obtaining cellulose nanofiber-reinforced polystyrene with greatly improved mechanical performance compared to unreinforced polystyrene is presented. Cellulose nanofibers were obtained by mechanical fibrillation of partially delignified wood (MFLC) and compared to nanofibers obtained from bleached pulp. Residual hemicellulose and lignin imparted amphiphilic surface chemical character to MFLC, which enabled the stabilization of emulsions of styrene in water. Upon suspension polymerization of styrene from the emulsion, polystyrene microspheres coated in MFLC were obtained. When processed into polymer sheets by hot-pressing, improved bending strength and superior impact toughness was observed for the polystyrene–MFLC composite compared to the un-reinforced polystyrene.

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