Reinforcing potential of nanofibrillated cellulose from nonwoody plants

In the present work the reinforcing potential of nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from five different non‐woody plants, namely; abaca, sisal, hemp, jute and flax was investigated. Nanocomposite materials were prepared by casting a mixture of NFC suspension and a polymer waterborne latex dispersion, and their mechanical properties in both linear and nonlinear ranges as well as the optical properties of the ensuing films were analyzed. Irrespective of their origin, the incorporation of the NFC within the polymer matrix brings about a huge reinforcing effect above the glass transition. The percolation approach has been shown to give a reasonably accurate prediction of the stiffness over the whole range of volume fraction investigated. The evolution of the magnitude of tan δ vs. the NFC content was also analyzed and discussed in term of the effective interfacial thickness. The optical transparency of the nanocomposite film at different NFC content was also studied and compared according to the NFC origin. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:1999–2007, 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers