Chee, P. L., Yew, P. Y. M., Kai, D., Loh, X. J. (2020). Reinforcement of aligned cellulose fibers by lignin-polyester copolymers. Materials Today Chemistry, 18, 100358. doi:10.1016/j.mtchem.2020.100358
Abstract:
With an ever-increasing attention on the climate change and the growing amount of plastic wastes generated, the search for an alternative to the petroleum-based plastics has never been as imperative. Inspired by the structure of natural wood, we aim to reproduce artificial equivalent using modified lignin and cellulose acetate. As natural wood are made up of an aggregation of fibres, electrospinning was used to produce the fibre component. Besides exploring the influence of various polymers on the properties of the eventual fibres, its properties were also examined in terms of its orientation – random and aligned. The addition of lignin copolymers was shown to remarkably improve the tensile strength and the Young’s modulus of cellulose acetate fibres up to 500 % and 7000 % respectively. In contrast to the random fibres, the aligned fibres demonstrated better tensile strength and Young’s modulus which could be attributed to the higher crystallinity. Among the fibres, the longitudinal aligned C.A. + Lig-PHB fibres exhibited the best tensile strength and Young’s modulus which could be explored for load bearing applications.
License type:
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research - Career Development Award
Grant Reference no. : 202D800033