Dispersion and Reinforcing Potential of Carboxymethylated Nanofibrillated Cellulose Powders Modified with 1-Hexanol in Extruded Poly(Lactic Acid) (PLA) Composites

Bionanocomposites of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and chemically modified, nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) powders were prepared by extrusion, followed by injection molding. The chemically modified NFC powders were prepared by carboxymethylation and mechanical disintegration of refined, bleached beech pulp (c-NFC), and subsequent esterification with 1-hexanol (c-NFC-hex). A solvent mix was then prepared by precipitating a suspension of c-NFC-hex and acetone-dissolved PLA in ice-cold isopropanol (c-NFC-hex_sm), extruded with PLA into pellets at different polymer/fiber ratios, and finally injection molded. Dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile tests were performed to study the reinforcing potential of dried and chemically modified NFC powders for PLA composite applications. The results showed a faint increase in modulus of elasticity of 10?% for composites with a loading of 7.5?% w/w of fibrils, irrespective of the type of chemically modified NFC powder. The increase in stiffness was accompanied by a slight decrease in tensile strength for all samples, as compared with neat PLA. The viscoelastic properties of the composites were essentially identical to neat PLA. The absence of a clear reinforcement of the polymer matrix was attributed to poor interactions with PLA and insufficient dispersion of the chemically modified NFC powders in the composite, as observed from scanning electron microscope images. Further explanation was found in the decrease of the thermal stability and crystallinity of the cellulose upon carboxymethylation.     

Long-term change in drivers of forest cover expansion: an analysis for Switzerland (1850-2000)

Regional Environmental Change - The spatial distribution of forests in Europe represents the legacy of centuries of human land use decisions. Due to the limited availability of historical data,...     

Daytime resolved analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban aerosol samples - impact of sources and meteorological conditions

Urban aerosol was collected in a summer and a winter campaign for 7 and 3 days, respectively. Low volume samples were taken with a time resolution of 160 min using a filter/sorption cartridge system extended by an ozone scrubber. Concentrations of mainly particle associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and oxidised PAH (O-PAH) were determined by gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry. The sampling site was located in the city centre of Augsburg, Germany, near major roads with high traffic volume. The daily concentrations and profiles were mainly governed by local emissions from traffic and domestic heating, as well as by the meteorological conditions. During the winter campaign, concentrations were more than 10 fold higher than during the summer campaign. Highest concentrations were found concurrent with low boundary layer heights and low wind speeds. Significant diurnal variation of the PAH profiles was observed. Enhanced influences of traffic related PAH on the PAH profiles were evident during daytime in summer, whereas emissions from hot water generation and domestic heating were obvious during the night time of both seasons. A general idea about the global meteorological situation was acquired using back trajectory calculations (NOAA ARL HYSPLIT4). Due to high local emissions in combination with low air exchange during the two sampling campaigns, effects of mesoscale transport were not clearly observable.