Production of new eco-materials based on poly (lactic acid) and natural fibers

Recently the use of renewable resourses for the production of polymer - based materials has attracted a growing attention, both in academia and industry, as a result of the increasing demand of environmental friendly materials. In this paper, biodegradable poly (lactic acid) (PLA) based eco-composites reinforced with natural kenaf fibers and rice hulls were prepared by compression moulding and their properties were compared to those of commonly used thermoplastic based-polymer, polypropylene (PP) containing the same reinforcements. Rice hulls from rice processing plants and natural lignocellulosic kenaf fibers represent renewable sources that could be utilized for production of new class of eco-materials. Maleic anhydride grafted PLA (MAPLA) and maleic anhydride grafted PP (MAPP) were used as a coupling agents (CA) to improve the compatibility and athesion between fibers and polymer matrix. The obtained results have shown that natural fiber based composites with both investigated polymer matrices (biodegradable PLA and nondegradable PP) could be utilized for production of new eco-materials with acceptable mechanical properties