Biodegradation behaviors and color change of composites based on type of bagasse pulp/polylactic acid

Abstract

In this research, appearance quality and decay resistance of polylactic acid (PLA) based green composites made from monoethanolamine (MEA) bagasse pulp, alkaline sulfite-anthraquinone (AS) bagasse pulp, bleached soda (B S) bagasse pulp, unbleached soda (UN S) bagasse pulp (UN S) bagasse pulp and raw bagasse fibers (B) were investigated. For the investigation of biodegradation behaviors, effect of the white rot fungi (Coriolus versicolor) on the neat PLA and composites with natural fibers during 30 and 60 days were studied. It is found that when the bagasse fibers were incorporated into composites matrix, percentage weight reduction and stiffness of samples have been increased. Also, the rate of loss mentioned of the composites made from bagasse pulp fibers were superior to the relevant raw bagase fibers. This can be explained by the removal of non-cellulosic components such as lignin and hemicelluloses from the fibers by pulping process. Also, the results indicates the inferior of surface qualities of fabricated composites regarding to neat PLA. Depending on the fiber type, different reductions of the surface qualities were attained. However, the degree of color change of the composites with any type of bagasse pulp fibers were lower compared with composite with raw bagasse fiber. Finally, as compared with the raw bagasse fibers, bagasse pulp fibers have better reinforcing capability.

Keywords

• Biodegradability
• green composites
• fungal decay
• bagasse pulp fiber
• polylactic acid (PLA)