Light and strong poly (lactic acid)/ cellulose nanofiber nanocomposite foams with enhanced rheological and crystallization property

This work proposes a scalable and green foam injection molding technique to produce high-performance poly (lactic acid) (PLA) foams by adding biodegradable cellulose nanofibers (CNFs). The introduction of CNFs significantly improved the rheological properties and crystallization kinetics of PLA, resulting in improved foaming ability. Microcellular PLA/CNF composite foam containing modified CNFs was successfully obtained with minimum cell size of 5.4 mu m and a void fraction of 50%. Furthermore, compared with the pure PLA, the yield stress and tensile modulus of both of solid and foamed PLA/CNF were obviously increased. The percentage increment in the yield stress and tensile modulus for composite foam were approximately 183% and 149%, respectively. This indicated that the added CNFs remarkably ameliorated the cellular morphologies of PLA as well as reinforced the PLA foams. This green strategy opens up new perspectives for developing fully-biobased, lightweight and high-performance PLA material.

Automated summary

This study proposes a scalable and green foam injection molding technique to produce high-performance PLA foams by adding cellulose nanofibers. The added nanofibers significantly improve the properties of PLA and enhance the foaming ability, resulting in the successful production of PLA foam material with improved performance. This green strategy opens up new possibilities for developing fully-biobased, lightweight and high-performance PLA material.