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The synergetic effect of phenylphosphonic acid zinc and microfibrillated cellulose on the injection molding cycle time of PLA composites

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Abstract

This study evaluates the effects of nucleants phenylphosphonic acid zinc (PPA-Zn) and talc, mold temperature, and microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) reinforcement in the acceleration of injection molding cycle of polylactic acid (PLA). PLA was dissolved in an organic solvent, mixed with nucleant and MFC, and dried compounds were injection molded into molds at temperatures ranging from 40 °C to 95 °C and holding times from 10 s to 120 s. Our results showed that PPA-Zn is more effective nucleating agent compared to talc. The addition of 1 wt% PPA-Zn and the mold temperature of 95 °C exhibited the fastest crystallization rates for the molded PLA, however, at this temperature the parts could not be quickly ejected without distortion. Addition of 10 wt% MFC increased the stiffness of PLA at high temperatures and allowed ejection of parts without distortion at a holding time of just 10 s. At this holding time, the crystallinity of the PLA composite was 15.3% but the storage modulus above T g was superior to that of fully crystallized neat PLA due to MFC reinforcement, retaining the shape of the molded part during demolding. The mechanical properties of the composite at room temperature were also higher than those of fully crystallized neat PLA.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Japan for supplying the PLA and Nissan Chemical, Inc., Japan for supplying the PPA-Zn. We are also grateful to Dr. T. Semba, Kyoto Municipal Industrial Research Institute, for his kind help in DSC measurements, Prof. F. Nakatsubo for discussions concerning the nucleating agent, and Dr. K. Abe, Kyoto University for proofreading of this manuscript. L. Suryanegara is indebted for the scholarship for the doctoral course from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan. This research was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (No.1538012, 2003.4-2007.3) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan, and a Grant-in-Aid for Research and Development for the Regional Innovation Consortium (No. 17S5018, 2006.9-2007.3) from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan

    Lisman Suryanegara, Hiroaki Okumura & Hiroyuki Yano

  2. Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-cho Minami, Tottori, 680-8552, Japan

    Antonio Norio Nakagaito

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  1. Lisman Suryanegara
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  2. Hiroaki Okumura
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  3. Antonio Norio Nakagaito
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  4. Hiroyuki Yano
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Correspondence to Lisman Suryanegara.

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Suryanegara, L., Okumura, H., Nakagaito, A.N. et al. The synergetic effect of phenylphosphonic acid zinc and microfibrillated cellulose on the injection molding cycle time of PLA composites. Cellulose 18, 689–698 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-011-9515-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-011-9515-1

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