Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Toughened PLA Composite Foams with Modified Coconut Fiber

摘要

Composite foams from polylactic acid (PLA), natural rubber and modified coconut fibres were prepared using a compression molding method suitable for the fabrication of composites containing high fibre content. Results revealed that the incorporation of natural rubber into composite foams increased the compressive stress to 101.17 kN/m~2. A 10 wt% increase of modified coconut fibre added to the composite foams resulted in an increase of compressive stress to 105.24 kN/m~2. The addition of modified coconut fibres in composite foams showed a slight decrease in the thermal behaviour of the crystallisation state determined by a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) of about 1-3°C. Thus, modified coconut fibres acted a role as nucleating agents. Moreover, the combination of modified coconut fibres in composite foams could lead to improved adhesion between the surface area of the PLA matrix and the natural rubber phase.