Effect of process engineering on the performance of natural fiber reinforced cellulose acetate biocomposites

Eco-friendly green/biocomposites were fabricated from chopped hemp fiber and cellulose ester biodegradable plastic through two process engineering approaches: powder impregnation through compression molding (process I) and extrusion followed by injection molding (process II). Cellulose ester, e.g. cellulose acetate (CA) plasticized with 30 wt% citrate plasticizer (CAP) was used as the matrix polymer for biocomposite fabrication. Intimate mixing due to shear forces experienced in process II produced superior strength biocomposites over their counterparts made using process I. Biocomposite fabricated through process II containing 30 wt% hemp natural fiber showed an improvement of storage modulus by 150% over the virgin matrix polymer. The coefficient of thermal expansion of the said biocomposite decreased from the CAP polymer by 60% whereas the heat deflection temperature improved by 30% versus the virgin bioplastic, indicating superior thermal behavior of the biocomposite. Plasticized cellulose acetate is proved to be much better matrix than non-polar polypropylene (PP) for hemp fiber (HF) reinforcements because of the better interaction of polar cellulose ester with the polar natural fiber. Fabricated through process II and with same content of hemp (30 wt%) the CAP-HF based biocomposite exhibited flexural strength of 78 MPa and modulus of elasticity of 5.6 GPa as contrast to 55 MPa and 3.7 GPa for the corresponding PP-HF based composite. The experimental findings of tensile modulus of the biocomposites are compared with the theoretical modulus using the rule of mixture. The fiber-matrix adhesion is evaluated through environmental scanning electron microscopy studies.