Using Factorial Design Methodology to Assess PLA-g-Ma and Henequen Microfibrillated Cellulose Content on the Mechanical Properties of Poly(lactic acid) Composites

Abstract

In this work, a 22 factorial design was used to study the effect of microfibrillated henequen cellulose fibers (HENCEL) and PLA-g-MA coupling agent contents on the tensile, flexural, and impact mechanical properties and the heat deflection temperature (HDT) of biodegradable PLA composites. The results show that the principal effects of HENCEL and MA are statistically significant for the tensile, flexural, HDT, and impact strength properties of PLA composites. Regarding the interactions between the principle effects, MA-HENCEL, there are differences with respect to the mechanical property; for example, for tensile and flexural mechanical properties, there is a synergistic effect between MA and HENCEL, whereas for HDT and impact strength there is not any. The micromechanical analysis shows an excellent agreement between the measured and the estimated values for both the composite tensile strength and the elastic modulus and only slight deviations were noticed for high microfibrillated cellulose fibers content. The morphological analysis via SEM indicated that the addition of PLA-g-MA improved the fiber-matrix adhesion because of the HENCEL unbounding and pull-out decreases from the PLA matrix. The use of appropriate values of matrix strength and stiffness and considering the improved fiber-matrix adhesion of the coupling agent yield a good agreement between experimental and estimated values.

Effect of Cellulose and Cellulose Nanocrystal Contents on the Biodegradation, under Composting Conditions, of Hierarchical PLA Biocomposites

“…PLA was purchased from NatureWorks ®® 3251D, with an average molecular weight (Mn) of 47.4 kg/mol, a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 59 °C, and a melting point (Tm) of 170 °C. The microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) used was obtained from henequen fibers ( agave fourcroydes ) using a procedure detailed in [ 9 ] and was 500 ± 35 µm in length, on average, and 12 ± 2 µm in diameter, on average. The cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were purchased from The University of MAINE Process Development Center, having an average of 296 ± 10 nm in length and 21.4 ± 2 nm in diameter.…”

“…However, its brittleness, low heat distortion temperature, and low- impact resistance restrict its use in high-performance applications. To improve its performance under high demands while maintaining its biodegradability, various researchers have incorporated cellulose fibers [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] or cellulose nanofibers [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] to increment its HDT and improve its impact properties, among other mechanical and thermal properties.…”

“…The use of a FED to understand the relevance and possible interaction of the factors under study was used to contribute to the understanding of the biodegradation of HBCs when composting. As shown in previous studies [9,[47][48][49][50], a FED involves the study of the influence of multiple factors (independent variables) on an experimental response or responses (dependent variables) [46]. In this work, a full 2 2 factorial design with a central point was chosen, since this kind of FED is a rotatable orthogonal design that allows us to inspect the possible presence of curvature in the experimental region studied.…”

Statistical Study on the Interaction Factors of Polypropylene-Graft-Maleic Anhydride (PP-g-MA) with Graphene Nanoplatelet (GNP) at Various Poly(Lactic Acid)/Polypropylene (PLA/PP) Blends Ratio

“…The factors affecting the PLA/PP/GNP nanocomposites determined by ANOVA, summarized in Table 3. The values of P < 0.05 indicate the model of the data was significant, while the statistical relationship between chosen factors with its response has a 95% confidence level when the P value less than 0.05 [36]. Based on results obtained, the P-value of the model was less than 0.05 (P < 0.0001), which indicates the model of the data was significant.…”

Factorial Design Based Optimization of Hydroxyzine Hydrochloride Fast Dissolving Tablets

“…The factors are commonly used at two levels. Normally, it is assumed that the response is approximately linear over the range of the factor level chosen [9] . One method of optimizing such experiments is to use factorial experimental designs (FEDs) to discover which factors influence the outcome of the experiment and what levels of these factors lead to an experiment with the greatest sensitivity.…”