Improvement of mechanical and thermal properties of polylactic acid electrospun films by incorporating L-Lactide functionalized cellulose nanocrystals

Despite being a promising biodegradable material, polylactic acid (PLA) still has several limitations mainly concerning its poor thermal resistance and brittleness. In addition, the high temperature during processing can lead to the deformation of PLA and thus reduce its performance of PLA. To overcome the above problems, L-Lactide functionalized cellulose nanocrystals enhanced PLA (PLA/CNC-g-PLA) were successfully prepared by electrospinning technology and the morphology, hydrophilic, thermal, and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite membranes with different ratios of CNC-g-PLA (1–10%) were characterized. The results demonstrated that the introduction of L-Lactide improved the interfacial compatibility between PLA and CNC. In addition, the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the composite fiber membranes were enhanced by improving the molecular chain orientation through electrospinning. The tensile strength and elongation at break of the composite fiber film increased by 2.4 and 8.2 times, and T0 and Tmax increased by 17 and 38 °C, respectively, when the addition of CNC-g-PLA was 5%. This promising nanocomposite with good properties is expected to be used in tissue engineering and food packaging applications.