Application of Cellulose : Manufacturing Stronger and Lighter Bioplastic Combined Cellulose with Plastics

Abstract

In recent years, because of increasing of interest in development of the low-carbon society, many researchers are studying to replace from petroleum-derived materials to eco-efficient plant derived “green” composites materials. Natural wood is the most sustainable and renewable resource and stockpile of natural wood on the earth will reach a trillion tons. Pulp mill has been living with the production and sale of pulp and paper as core business by using these natural woods.
Pulp is mainly consisted from cellulose fibers that have several ten micrometers diameter, the unit element in the fibers composition is cellulose (nano) fibrils that possess diameter ranging 1 to 100 nanometers with a high aspect ratios. These fibrils can be easliy dispersed in water by chemical modification (surface oxidation, acidic hydrolysis) or high pressure shearing, and the dispersed nanofibrils are called cellulose nanofibers (CeNF).
We have produced various cellulose nanofibers from our own pulps and studied the composites containing CeNF and polypropyrene (PP). As a result, it was confirmed that improvement of the mechanical properties by blending a few percent of CeNF to PP resin. In addition, Interestingly, depending on the degree of fibrillation level of CeNF, the composites were shown different mechanical properties for each. Improvement effect of CeNF-composites shows a tendency to decrease in composite materials with CeNF which has been too progressed fibrillation. Therefore, it was suggested that the optimum fibrillation-level of CeNF for improvement of mechanical properties of composites might exist.