Abstract
Application of natural fibers always faces incompatibility problems due to hydrophilic nature of the fibers which resulted in poor interactions with thermoplastic polymer matrix. The objective of this research was to provide thermoplastic properties to the natural fibers by solvent free esterification using trifluoroacetic anhydride (TFAA) as impelling agent and fatty acids as acylating agent, without any plasticizers or thermoplastic polymer. We also want to make these fibers hydrophobic, potentially addressing incompatibility issues at the fiber matrix interface. The reactivity of esterification varied depending on the chemical composition of the fibers indicated by different values of weight percent gain (WPG). Cotton and flax fiber were chosen for further characterization due to their high content of cellulose which resulted in high ester content. Significant changes in chemical structure were detected using FTIR indicated by substitution of hydroxyl groups with alkyl side chains from fatty acids. This chemical change followed by thermal properties improvement observed by TGA. Thermoplasticity of fatty acids esterified fibers successfully achieved indicated by softening temperature at about 60 and 130°C observed by DSC and TMA, and disappearance of fibers aspect to homogenous and smooth surface of the film. Significant improvements of surface hydrophobicity were also observed by measuring contact angle of water drops to the surface of the film.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Région GrandEst region and Lorraine University for the doctoral fellowship granted to the first author.
Funding
UR 4370 LERMAB is supported by a grant overseen by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of the “Investissements d’Avenir” program (ANR-11-LABX-0002-01, Lab of Excellence ARBRE) in the frame of the project “Woodstic”. The authors also thank ICEEL for the financial support in the frame of the project “BoisPlast” (CARN 0013 01).
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PSS: Writing–original draft, Investigation, Visualization, Methodology, Formal analysis. LR: Data curation, Formal analysis. JA: Data curation, Formal analysis. VM: Data curation, Formal analysis. FOA: Conceptualization, Resource, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing–reviewing & editing, FF: Conceptualization, Resource, Writing–reviewing. PG: Conceptualization, Resource, Investigation, Supervision, Writing–reviewing & editing. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Sejati, P.S., Roche, L., Afrim, J. et al. Thermoplastic film from natural fibers and fatty acids by a single esterification reaction. Cellulose (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-024-05865-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-024-05865-1