Rheological and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Abutilon Natural Straw and Polylactic Acid Biocomposites

Recently, natural fibers have become attractive materials to engineers, scientists, and researchers as an alternative reinforcement for biocomposites. In this study, polylactic acid/abutilon natural straw biocomposites with various abutilon straw weight fractions were prepared by melt blending. The differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results showed a significant influence of the abutilon straw on the melting behavior of PLA, even at the low abutilon straw contents. The dynamic mechanical analysis demonstrated that the storage modulus, as well as tan delta of the biocomposites, increased when the abutilon straw content increases, which indicates better interaction between abutilon natural straw and PLA. The incorporation of abutilon straw into biocomposites provided favorable changes in rheology related to the matrix. SEM observation revealed good dispersion of the abutilon straw in PLA.