Melt-Spun Nanocomposite Fibers Reinforced with Aligned Tunicate Nanocrystals.
- Redondo A Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Chatterjee S Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
- Brodard P College of Engineering and Architecture of Fribourg, University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland, Boulevard de Pérolles 80, CH-1705 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Korley LTJ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
- Weder C Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Gunkel I Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- Steiner U Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Chemin des Verdiers 4, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland.
- 2019-11-24
Published in:
- Polymers. - 2019
cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs)
melt-spinning
nanocomposite fibers
orientation
polyurethane
reinforcement
thermal stability
English
The fabrication of nanocomposite films and fibers based on cellulose nanocrystals (P-tCNCs) and a thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) elastomer is reported. High-aspect-ratio P-tCNCs were isolated from tunicates using phosphoric acid hydrolysis, which is a process that affords nanocrystals displaying high thermal stability. Nanocomposites were produced by solvent casting (films) or melt-mixing in a twin-screw extruder and subsequent melt-spinning (fibers). The processing protocols were found to affect the orientation of both PU hard segments and the P-tCNCs within the PU matrix and therefore the mechanical properties. While the films were isotropic, both the polymer matrix and the P-tCNCs proved to be aligned along the fiber direction in the fibers, as shown using SAXS/WAXS, angle-dependent Raman spectroscopy, and birefringence analysis. Tensile tests reveal that fibers and films, at similar P-tCNC contents, display Young's moduli and strain-at-break that are within the same order of magnitude, but the stress-at-break was found to be ten-times higher for fibers, conferring them a superior toughness over films.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- gold
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.3390/polym11121912
- PMID 31757006
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/93416
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