Development of Nanocomposites with Cellulose Nanofiber and Thermoplastics,and Microcellular Foaming

Many investigations have been paid to an application of cellulose nanofiber (CNF) because of its diverse fascinating characteristics such as outstanding mechanical, thermal properties, renewable resources, and others. In this article, three developments of nanocomposites between CNF and thermoplastics were described. First, the CNF and a polyamide 11 (PA11) derived from caster bean oil were compounded by making use of polymer processing techniques, and its static/dynamic mechanical properties were investigated. The static mechanical and thermal properties of the bio-nanocomposites were equal to an engineering plastic material as the result of a cationized surface treatment onto the CNF. Secondly, the foams of the hydrophobic modified CNF/HDPE nanocomposites were investigated. The modified CNF made the bubble radius decrease because of the increase in the storage modulus of the composites. By nanofiber reinforcement and microcellular foaming, the modified CNF/HDPE foams showed the higher mechanical properties and lower density than neat HDPE. Thirdly, the general dyeing techniques for cotton fiber and fabrics were applied to the CNF in order to gain an outstanding colorability and high mechanical properties for plastic materials. The obtained color tones of the CNF were good, and its nanocomposites material compounded with the colored CNF and a polyolefin created a novel ambience which previous pigment materials can not possibly make it. Coloring and reinforcement for plastic materials are attained at the same time by making use of the developed colored CNF.