Properties of empty fruit bunch cellulose nanocrystal reinforced chitosan biocomposites

Abstract

The focus of this research was to isolate the cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) from Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) and evaluate the properties of the CNC content loading from 0 wt % to 5 wt % reinforced chitosan biocomposites. The study on effects of citric acid (CA) as crosslinker on functional group, tensile properties, crystallinity and morphology of CNC reinforced chitosan biocomposites was conducted. The performance of different formulations will be assessed with statistical analyses. 4 wt % of CNC content was chosen as the optimum content in chitosan /CNC biocomposites as well as the chitosan /CNC /CA biocomposites. The tensile properties were tested by using Instron Universal Tensile Machine (UTM) according to standard of ASTM D882-12. The tensile strength, elongation at break (Eb) and modulus of elasticity were increased as the CNC content loading. On the other hand, the addition of CA had improved the tensile strength and modulus of elasticity but decreased in the Eb. The interfacial adhesion between chitosan /CNC with CA was enhanced, as evidenced by morphology study by using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to study the changes of the functional group in the chitosan /CNC and chitosan /CNC /CA biocomposites. The X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis was conducted and the crystallinity of the chitosan /CNC biocomposites was decreased after the incorporation with CA.