Surface Modification of Cellulose Nanofibers using Graft Polymerization ofPMMA and PBA to Reinforce LDPE/TPS/PE-g-MA Nanocomposites

This research paved the way for the preparation of low-density polyethylene/thermoplasticstarch/polyethylene-grafted maleic anhydride (LDPE/TPS/PE-g-MA) nanocomposites reinforced byeither modified or unmodified cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). For this purpose, butyl acrylate (BA)monomers was first grafted onto the surface of CNFs to have its hydrophobicity modified. Afterward,the as-prepared reinforcements were loaded into the LDPE/TPS/PE-g-MA blends in order to preparethe ensuing nanocomposites. Results, obtained by FT-IR and TOF-SIMS analyses, revealed that thesubstitution of BA monomers onto the surface of CNFs occurred appropriately. Mechanical studiesdemonstrated that the ultimate strength and Young’s modulus of nanocomposites containingBA-g-CNF was pronouncedly improved in comparison with the pristine CNFs embeddednanocomposite. Degradability and water absorption of the modified CNF reinforced samples,compared to the pristine CNF reinforced counterparts, were also declined.

کلیدواژه ها:

Green ، Sustainable ، and Biopolymers ، Cellulose nanofibers ، surface modification ، polyethylene-grafted maleic anhydride ، TPS ، LDPE