Advancement in tensile properties of polylactic acid composites reinforced with rice straw fibers

With depleting fossil fuels and an increase in environmental issues due to non-biodegradable plastics obtained from petrochemicals, the researchers are making a shift toward natural polymers and composites. Hence, in this study, synthesis of green composites from natural fiber, i.e., rice straw (RS), was achieved, where fibers were subjected to grafting, forming RS-grafted-PLA (Polylactic acid) which were analysed using FTIR, FESEM, C13NMR techniques. Further, the modified fibers were induced in PLA to form composite films, which depicted improvement in thermal stability and crystallinity for the composite. The mechanical testing revealed an increase of 94.9 % tensile strength of the film along with inducing toughness to about 605 %, thereby boosting compatibility between the matrix and fillers. The lower water permeability and improved hydrophobicity of modified films in comparison to PLA films depicted effective nucleation in the matrix by fillers. The synthesized films showed improvement in physiochemical and physical properties, suggesting they have potential in packaging applications. [Display omitted] •Agricultural waste rice straw fibers were successfully functionalized with lactic acid.•Synthesis of biodegradable composite films using modified rice straw and PLA.•Interaction among the components visualized using FTIR and 13C NMR.•Modified rice straw fiber added to neat PLA exhibited surge in mechanical properties.•Hydrophobicity and water permeability enhanced for films.