PLA meets Rayon: Tough PLA compounds reinforced with cellulose rayon for injection moulding

Cellulose rayon reinforcement is a viable biobased option to improve the mechanical properties of PLA, in particular the unsatisfactory impact behaviour. In contrast to conventional impact modifiers which reduce stiffness and strength, fibre reinforcement with rayon gives improved toughness, strength, and impact strength at the same time. Apart from stiffness, rayon reinforcement proved to be superior over short glass fibre reinforcement with additional advantages in terms of lower density, reduced abrasiveness, facilitated renewable energy incineration, and biobased character of the whole composite