Toward environment-friendly composites of poly(propylene carbonate) reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals

In this study, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were incorporated into poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), which is a biodegradable alternative copolymer of propylene oxide and carbon dioxide, CNCs were prepared by sulfuric treatment of cellulose filter. An effective approach to prepare PPC environment-friendly composites is shown. The obtained PPC/CNCs nanocomposites display orders of magnitude increase in mechanical properties by adding a small amount of CNCs, in particular, with only 0.1 wt% of CNCs incorporated, a 10-fold increase in tensile strength and 7-fold increase in Young’s modulus were achieved. The thermal stability of the nanocomposites is significantly improved as measured by dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. This is due to a combination of CNCs reinforcement in the soft matrix and increased effective molecular weight of the nanocomposties. The present nanocomposites outperform PPC composites reinforced with other nano-sized stiff and anisotropic fillers.