High-strength 3D printed poly(lactic acid) composites reinforced by shear-aligned polymer-grafted cellulose nanofibrils†

RSC Applied Polymers Pub Date : 2024-11-15 DOI:10.1039/D4LP00283K

Peter V. Kelly, S. Shams Es-haghi, Ahmad A. L. Ahmad, Meghan E. Lamm, Katie Copenhaver, Elif Alyamac-Seydibeyoglu, Soydan Ozcan, Douglas J. Gardner and William M. Gramlich

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Abstract

This work demonstrates the application of pilot-scale surface functionalization of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) by aqueous grafting-through polymerization and subsequent spray drying in 3D printed poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites. Grafted-CNF composites attain an ultimate tensile strength of 88 ± 3 MPa and a tensile modulus of elasticity of 7.8 ± 1.3 GPa in the printing direction at 20 wt% reinforcement loading. These increases, 42% and 139% over neat PLA, respectively, represent the strongest reported 3D printed CNF/PLA composite to date in the literature. The mechanisms behind these improvements are investigated by comparisons to neat PLA and unmodified spray-dried CNF/PLA controls using melt rheology, dynamic mechanical analysis, and assessment of the reinforcement dispersion. These experiments reveal that improved network formation and shear-induced alignment of the grafted CNFs facilitate the remarkable tensile properties of the printed composites.

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