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Polylactic Acid Fibre Reinforced Biodegradable Composites
[Thesis]. Manchester, UK: The University of Manchester; 2015.
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Abstract
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a well-known biodegradable and sustainable polymer, derived from renewable agricultural sources. Its high price in the past limited its applications to mainly biomedical materials such as bone fixation devices. As the growth of awareness in global environment protection and sustainable development, PLA has attracted increased attention and development. Nowadays, the applications of PLA have been broadened into plastics, textiles and composites etc. Composites have been widely used in industrial applications for several decades, due to their high strength-to-weight ratio and good structural properties. However, most traditional composite materials are composed of two distinct fossil fuel based components. They are not eco-friendly and are difficult to recycle. This study aims at the development of PLA biodegradable composites and the optimisation of the processing parameters to achieve the best mechanical properties of PLA self-reinforced composites (PLA-SRC) for various end-uses.A variety of polymer analytical techniques were used to evaluate crystallinity, thermal properties, and chemical structures of the PLA reinforcement and matrix. Further study was carried out to assess the effects on mechanical properties of PLA-SRC caused by the processing temperature, pressure and holding time. The composites produced at high temperature and/or high pressure have significantly better matrix penetration (fibre wetting), which enhances mechanical properties. However, holding time was found to have no significant effect on the properties of PLA-SRC.