Foaming of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites: Pickering Emulsion Templating for High-Homogeneity Filler Dispersions

Yunchong Zhang; Joost Duvigneau; Xiaofeng Sui; G. Julius Vancso

doi:10.1021/acsapm.1c01046

Foaming of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites: Pickering Emulsion Templating for High-Homogeneity Filler Dispersions

Yunchong Zhang, Joost Duvigneau, Xiaofeng Sui, G. Julius Vancso^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) composite foams have attracted much attention due to their biodegradability and potential to replace petroleum-based foams. However, the dispersion of (unmodified) CNCs in PLA remains challenging. Here, we used the Pickering emulsion templating method of unmodified CNCs to stabilize PLA microspheres and prepare a concentrated masterbatch. This masterbatch was used in conventional melt blending of pristine PLA to obtain well-dispersed CNCs in PLA with a CNC loading of up to 5 wt %. In comparison, PLA/CNC composites prepared by direct melt blending of CNCs in PLA showed visual agglomerates of CNCs. PLA/CNC composites were batch foamed with CO2 as a physical blowing agent. We demonstrate that the good CNC dispersion obtained by the Pickering emulsion route is favorable for preparing PLA foams with smaller and more uniform cell sizes and with a higher cell density. These results demonstrate that the Pickering emulsion approach to prepare CNC masterbatches for subsequent dispersion in thermoplastics by conventional processing seems promising for numerous industrial applications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	111-120
Number of pages	10
Journal	ACS Applied Polymer Materials
Volume	4
Issue number	1
Early online date	8 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.1c01046
Publication status	Published - 14 Jan 2022

Keywords

cellulose nanocrystal
dispersion
foaming
masterbatch
Pickering emulsion
polylactic acid
UT-Hybrid-D

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title = "Foaming of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites: Pickering Emulsion Templating for High-Homogeneity Filler Dispersions",

abstract = "Polylactic acid (PLA)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) composite foams have attracted much attention due to their biodegradability and potential to replace petroleum-based foams. However, the dispersion of (unmodified) CNCs in PLA remains challenging. Here, we used the Pickering emulsion templating method of unmodified CNCs to stabilize PLA microspheres and prepare a concentrated masterbatch. This masterbatch was used in conventional melt blending of pristine PLA to obtain well-dispersed CNCs in PLA with a CNC loading of up to 5 wt %. In comparison, PLA/CNC composites prepared by direct melt blending of CNCs in PLA showed visual agglomerates of CNCs. PLA/CNC composites were batch foamed with CO2 as a physical blowing agent. We demonstrate that the good CNC dispersion obtained by the Pickering emulsion route is favorable for preparing PLA foams with smaller and more uniform cell sizes and with a higher cell density. These results demonstrate that the Pickering emulsion approach to prepare CNC masterbatches for subsequent dispersion in thermoplastics by conventional processing seems promising for numerous industrial applications. ",

keywords = "cellulose nanocrystal, dispersion, foaming, masterbatch, Pickering emulsion, polylactic acid, UT-Hybrid-D",

author = "Yunchong Zhang and Joost Duvigneau and Xiaofeng Sui and Vancso, {G. Julius}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors thank the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente for financial support. Y.Z. expresses his appreciation to the Chinese Scholarship Council for graduate studies scholarship (No. 201906630095). The authors also thank Clemens Padberg for obtaining the SEM images. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.",

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doi = "10.1021/acsapm.1c01046",

language = "English",

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T1 - Foaming of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites

T2 - Pickering Emulsion Templating for High-Homogeneity Filler Dispersions

AU - Zhang, Yunchong

AU - Duvigneau, Joost

AU - Sui, Xiaofeng

AU - Vancso, G. Julius

N1 - Funding Information: The authors thank the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology of the University of Twente for financial support. Y.Z. expresses his appreciation to the Chinese Scholarship Council for graduate studies scholarship (No. 201906630095). The authors also thank Clemens Padberg for obtaining the SEM images. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

PY - 2022/1/14

Y1 - 2022/1/14

N2 - Polylactic acid (PLA)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) composite foams have attracted much attention due to their biodegradability and potential to replace petroleum-based foams. However, the dispersion of (unmodified) CNCs in PLA remains challenging. Here, we used the Pickering emulsion templating method of unmodified CNCs to stabilize PLA microspheres and prepare a concentrated masterbatch. This masterbatch was used in conventional melt blending of pristine PLA to obtain well-dispersed CNCs in PLA with a CNC loading of up to 5 wt %. In comparison, PLA/CNC composites prepared by direct melt blending of CNCs in PLA showed visual agglomerates of CNCs. PLA/CNC composites were batch foamed with CO2 as a physical blowing agent. We demonstrate that the good CNC dispersion obtained by the Pickering emulsion route is favorable for preparing PLA foams with smaller and more uniform cell sizes and with a higher cell density. These results demonstrate that the Pickering emulsion approach to prepare CNC masterbatches for subsequent dispersion in thermoplastics by conventional processing seems promising for numerous industrial applications.

AB - Polylactic acid (PLA)/cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) composite foams have attracted much attention due to their biodegradability and potential to replace petroleum-based foams. However, the dispersion of (unmodified) CNCs in PLA remains challenging. Here, we used the Pickering emulsion templating method of unmodified CNCs to stabilize PLA microspheres and prepare a concentrated masterbatch. This masterbatch was used in conventional melt blending of pristine PLA to obtain well-dispersed CNCs in PLA with a CNC loading of up to 5 wt %. In comparison, PLA/CNC composites prepared by direct melt blending of CNCs in PLA showed visual agglomerates of CNCs. PLA/CNC composites were batch foamed with CO2 as a physical blowing agent. We demonstrate that the good CNC dispersion obtained by the Pickering emulsion route is favorable for preparing PLA foams with smaller and more uniform cell sizes and with a higher cell density. These results demonstrate that the Pickering emulsion approach to prepare CNC masterbatches for subsequent dispersion in thermoplastics by conventional processing seems promising for numerous industrial applications.

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Foaming of Polylactic Acid/Cellulose Nanocrystal Composites: Pickering Emulsion Templating for High-Homogeneity Filler Dispersions

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