Morphology, crystallization and rheological behavior in poly(butylene succinate)/cellulose nanocrystal nanocomposites fabricated by solution coagulation

•PBS/CNC nanocomposites were successfully prepared by solution coagulation.•The dispersed CNC and PBS matrix showed strong interfacial interactions.•Small amount of CNC considerably enhanced crystallization rate of PBS. Nanocomposites consisting of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) were fabricated by solution coagulation method. Morphology analysis indicated that CNC dispersed well in PBS matrix and rheological analysis suggested that PBS and CNC showed strong interactions. Thermal analysis indicated that the nanocomposites showed slightly increased glass transition temperature, significantly enhanced crystallization temperature and different melting behavior, compared to neat PBS. Study on crystallization indicated that small loading of CNC could significantly increase overall crystallization rate of PBS, meanwhile the crystallization mechanism and crystal structure remained unchanged. The significant enhancement in overall crystallization was attributed to the increased nucleation ability by incorporation of well dispersed CNC nanoparticles. Tensile testing indicated that the tensile strength and modulus were gradually improved with increasing CNC content, while the elongation at break decreased and even brittle fracture occurred when the content of CNC increased to 1.0wt%.