Structure and properties of biobased polyamide 36,9/cellulose nanocomposites

The research into replacing polymers from fossil fuels with those from renewable resources has recently been attracting increasing interest from researchers. Biobased polymers with renewable additives such as cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are emerging as promising substitutes. In this article, fully biobased nanocomposites were produced from a biobased polyamide elastomer, PA36,9, reinforced with CNCs. The addition of CNCs influences the morphological features and thermal and mechanical properties of the neat polymer. It slightly reduces the melting temperature and crystallinity of the polymer, and increases its glass transition temperature. Furthermore, the incorporation of CNCs provides significant enhancements in the tensile Young's modulus, storage modulus and hardness of the polymer matrix. The Young's modulus of PA36,9/CNC nanocomposites closely follows the Halpin–Tsai model for the composites with a 2D randomly dispersed filler. In general, these biobased CNC-reinforced thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites could be promising recyclable and renewable substitutes for some existing synthetic elastomers with similar properties.