Nanocomposite of cellulose acetate reinforced with nanocrystals modified chemically: Modification with bifunctional reagent

A special class of nanocomposites (NCPs) of great scientific interest, are polymers reinforced with cellulose nanoparticless (cellulose nanocrystals [CNCs] and cellulose nanofibrils). Particularly, studies involving thermoplastics and nano reinforcements that are widely reported in the literature due to the wide variety of natural fibers sources in combination with various polymeric matrices. Conversely, there are few works in the literature that deal with the superficial modification of CNC with bifunctional reagents. It is known, that the formation of covalent chemical linkages between reinforcement and the matrix confer greater adhesions between the reinforcement and the matrix, hence in a genera way showing improvements in mechanical properties of NCPs. This work describes the development of a new NCP composed of CNCs extracted from Typha domingensis and films of cellulose acetate (CA) as a matrix. Conversely, a bifunctional reagent, 3,3′,4,4′‐benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA) was employed in order to modify nanocrystal surface. The inclusion of nanocrystal caused a significant increase of mechanical properties of some NCPs when compared with the matrix. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E321–E332, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers