Effect of acid hydrolysis time on tensile and morphological properties of microcrystalline chitin filled polylactic acid biocomposites

摘要

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of acid hydrolysis time on microcrystalline chitin (MCC) filled polylactic acid (PLA) biocomposites using solution casting method. MCC was produced from commercial chitin using controlled hydrolysis process at four different hydrolysis time; 15, 30, 45 and 60 min. The tensile and morphological properties of PLA/MCC biocomposites were investigated using tensile testing machine and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. Tensile strength and Young’s modulus of PLA/MCC biocomposites increased gradually by increasing hydrolysis time. The biocomposites with longest hydrolysis time (60 min) showed the higher tensile strength, Young’s modulus and elongation at break values. AFM analysis showed homogeneous dispersion of MCC fillers with smaller particles size at longer hydrolysis time, resulted in smother surface morphology compared to biocomposites with shorter hydrolysis time.