Cellulose nanocrystal-loaded polylactide/poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) blends: nanoparticles’ influence on the structure and properties of nanofibrous webs

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have gained considerable attention due to their superior properties, i.e., high aspect ratio, high modulus and strength, low density, and have been widely studied as a key component in the development of green nanocomposites. In this study, electrospinning of CNC-loaded polymer blend of polylactide (PLA) and poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is reported for the first time. The polymer blend ratio and solvent ratio of dichloromethane (DCM)/ dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was optimized based on electrospinnability of the developed solution formulations, and successful fabrication of homogeneous bead-free nanofibers. Subsequently, CNCs were incorporated into PLA/PBAT polymer blends at various loading levels, i.e., from 1 to 5 wt%, in order to explore the influence of CNC incorporation on the key properties of PLA/PBAT nanocomposite nanofibrous webs, i.e., morphological and chemical structure, melting and crystallization behavior, thermal and hydrolytic degradation, mechanical performance and wettability characteristic. The main finding of this study was that well-distributed nanoparticles in the nanofibrous webs led to improved mechanical, thermal and wettability properties, even with a low CNC loading level, i.e., 1 wt%. The outcomes provide a groundwork for future studies on the design and fabrication of biodegradable nanocomposite nanofibers from PLA/PBAT blends for a variety of applications including tissue engineering, drug delivery, active/ intelligent food packaging, by clearly elucidating the structure–property relationships.