Novel lignin microspheres reinforced poly (lactic acid) composites for fused deposition modeling

摘要

Lignin microspheres were prepared by the solvent-anti-solvent method and blended with pure poly (lactic acid) (PLA) to prepare lignin microspheres/PLA composites for fused deposition modeling. Lignin microspheres were successfully prepared by using deionized water as the anti-solvent and methanol (MAL), ethanol (EAL), and n-propanol (NPA) as solvent, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of lignin microspheres showed that the best microspheres were prepared by NPA at 60 C (NPA-60), with the size range of microspheres between 800 and 1000 nm. Moreover, the lignin microspheres/PLA composites showed the best mechanical properties when 0.375 wt% NPA-60 was doped into PLA matrix. Compared with pure PLA, the tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of the 0.375 wt% NPA-60/PLA composites were increased by 49.80%, 25.00%, and 112.64%, respectively. Therefore, the lignin microsphere/PLA composites prepared by using a small amount of lignin microspheres as reinforcing filler has excellent mechanical properties, which are ideal 3D printing materials for fused deposition modeling.