| dc.description.abstract | Cellulose at nanoscale, so called microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), has been discovered as reinforcement for polylactic acid (PLA) composite. Hydrophilicity of MFC makes the fibers do not uniformly dispersed in the hydrophobic PLA matrix and it reduced the thermal and mechanical properties. In this study, MFC was esterified with acetic anhydride, butyric anhydride, and maleic anhydride to improve the properties. MFC-butyrate gave the best thermal properties to the PLA composite. Glass transition temperature increased by 0.64 °C and cold crystalization temperature decreased by 13.8 °C. On the other hand, MFC addition decreased the melting temperature by 0.9 °C. Based on maximum strain value, the best reduction on brittleness was revealed by MFC-maleate. PLA/MFC-maleate increased tensile strength by 51% and PLA/MFC acetate increased modulus of elasticity by 35%. Carbon chain length and the existence of C-C double bond gave inconsistent effect on the thermal and mechanical properties of the composite. | en |
