Sisal nanofibril reinforced polypropylene/polystyrene blends: Morphology, mechanical, dynamic mechanical and water transmission studies

In this work, cellulose nano fibers were extracted from sisal leaves using steam explosion technique. The chemical composition, morphology and thermal properties of the nano fibers and their intermediate products were characterized. The progressive removal of noncellulosic constituents is confirmed by FTIR studies. X-ray diffraction reveals that crystallinity increased with successive chemical treatments. Characterization of the fibers by SEM and TEM gives evidence for the formation of cellulose nano fibers. TGA results show that the cellulose nano fibers exhibit enhanced thermal properties over the untreated fibers. The effect of cellulose nanofibers on the mechanical and morphological properties of polypropylene/polystyrene blend has been studied. Water transmission data shows that the addition of 0.5 wt% CNF decreased the transmission rate in the composite. Mechanical properties improve with the incorporation of cellulose nano fiber. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.