Preparation and mechanical characterization of chicken feather/PLA composites

Abstract

Green composites, a bio‐based polymer matrix is reinforced by natural fibers, are special class of bio‐composites. Interest about green composites is continuously growing because they are environment‐friendly. This study describes the preparation and mechanical characterization of green composites using polylactic acid (PLA) matrix including chicken feather fiber (CFF) as reinforcement. Extrusion and an injection molding process were used to prepare CFF/PLA composites at a controlled temperature range. CFF/PLA composites with fiber mass content of 2%, 5%, and 10% were manufactured. The effects of fiber concentration and fiber length on mechanical properties of CFF/PLA composites have been studied. Mechanical properties of composites were investigated by tensile, compression, bending, hardness, and Izod impact testing. The results of experiments indicated that Young's modulus, compressive strength, flexural modulus, and hardness of the PLA reinforced CFF composites are higher but tensile strength, elongation at break, bending strength and impact strength of them are lower than pure PLA. The results indicate that these types of composites can be used for various applications. POLYM. COMPOS., 38:837–845, 2017. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

Compatibilities and properties of poly lactide/poly (methyl acrylate) grafted chicken feather composite: Effects of graft chain length

“…Despite that PLA/CFF films had a relative higher crystalline degree, the presence of voids and cracks between feather fiber and PLA matrix inside the films was a defect and it became more crucial at high filler content. These effects resulted in declining mechanical properties while increasing fiber loading, which was also observed in a previous study . Tensile modulus, break strength, and break elongation of PLA/CFF were plummeted to only about one‐third compared to neat PLA film.…”

“…To further investigate this phenomenon, cross‐section morphology observation of these composite films was carried out on SEM after cryo‐break using liquid nitrogen. Voids and gaps between chicken feather fiber and PLA matrix (Figure 2a,b) indicated the lack of compatibility between PLA and CFF, which had been discovered according to other PLA/CFF composite system too . More importantly, the voids and gaps connected together formed cracks in PLA/CFF films at high fiber concentration (Figure 2c,d).…”

“…Therefore, it is interesting to investigate whether the incorporation of multiple kind of reinforcements can improve the performances of PLA or simply reducing the cost of PLA. Several researches of PLA reinforced with chicken feather fiber have been reported . It was reported that chicken feather has advantages in reducing environmental impact through preparing feather fiber/PLA bio‐based composite compared with neat PLA materials …”

Effect of surface treatment on the physical and mechanical properties of injection molded poly(lactic acid)‐coir fiber biocomposites

“…The use of natural fibers as reinforcement in polymers substantially increased over the last three decades due to important advantages such as lightweight, high stiffness, non‐toxicity and easy processing in comparison with inorganic fibers . More recently, environmental concern led to the use of more sustainable polymers (biopolymers) having specific characteristics such as biocompatibility and biodegradability as most of them are produced from renewable resources . Currently, the most commercially used biopolymer is poly(lactic acid) (PLA) which is a thermoplastic polyester synthesized either by lactic acid condensation or lactide ring opening polymerization .…”

Analysis of Selected Properties of Biocomposites Based on Polyethylene with a Natural Origin Filler

“…Therefore, an intensively developed trend in the field of polymer processing is the use of natural fillers, which, in addition to their unique properties, allows the reduction in the consumption of polymer materials. This gives measurable benefits both in the processing of biopolymers, by significantly reducing the price of the composite and allowing for their wider use, and petrochemical polymers, by reducing environmental pollution [14][15][16][17].…”