Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/micro-fibrillated cellulose (MFC) biocomposites for film blowing applications

Abstract

Film blowing is one of the most widely used structuring processes to produce thin polymer films. During this process, unique morphologies are induced in polymer-filled composites by elongational flow. In this work, the effect of the presence of micro fibrillated cellulose (MFC) on the morphology and mechanical properties of poly (lactic acid) (PLA)/MFC biocomposites subjected to non-isothermal elongation flow in a melt spinning operation was evaluated to assess the filmability of the proposed formulations and the final morphology achieved during film blowing. The produced films were characterized to determine how the achieved morphology affected the thermal, optical, barrier, and mechanical properties of the films, paying particular attention on the improvements achieved thanks to the MFC addition