PHA and PLA Biodegradable Plastics with Rice Straw Filler to Create Biobased Structural Insulating Panels (BSIPs)

摘要

Biobased composites were produced with PHA and PLA biodegradble plastics with rice straw and walnut shells as fillers. Rice straw laminate bio-composite boards were produced with PHA and PLA biodegradable plastic pellets with rice straw in a Leitritz twin screw extruder. Rice straw and walnut shells were added to PHA/PLA plastic to form a rice straw composite with 40% filler and 60% plastic. The pellets were compression molded to form the skins of the BSIP. PLA foam was used to produce the biobased foam core. The PHA, PLA, rice straw, and walnut shell mixtures were injection molded and different concentrations of rice straw and walnut shell filler. Tensile testing results show that PHA/PLA blend had 16% lower modulus and 33% less load than PLA by itself. Walnut shells and rice straw reduced the tensile strength and elongation of the plastic composite but increased the tensile modulus. Walnut shells and rice straw also decreased the impact strength of the plastic biocomposite. The biocomposite panels can be combined with a PLA foam core to form the biobased structural insulating panels.