Papyrus reinforced poly(L-lactic acid) composite

Mechanical reinforcement of an all-sustainable composite, composed of papyrus stem-milled particles as reinforcement and poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) resin as matrix, was investigated. The papyrus particles (average diameter of 70 μm) could be well dispersed in PLLA resin up to 50 wt% without any surface modification. Young's modulus of the composite was 4.2 GPa at 50 wt% of the papyrus content. This is a two-fold increment in modulus as compared to that of the PLLA matrix. The tensile strength of the composite was almost constant around 48 MPa irrespective of the papyrus content. Temperature dependence of the storage modulus demonstrated that the incorporation of papyrus restricts the large drop in the modulus above the glass transition of PLLA.