Monitoring of Morphology and Properties During Preparation of PCL/PLA Microfibrillar Composites With Organophilic Montmorillonite
Open accessAbstract
Biodegradable microfibrillar composites PCL/PLA/C15, where PCL is poly(ε-caprolactone), PLA is poly(lactic acid) and C15 is organophilic montmorillonite, have been prepared. Microindentation hardness testing was employed in monitoring the gradual improvement of PCL stiffness due to PLA addition, C15 addition, flow-induced orientation, and changing crystallinity throughout the whole preparation process. Neat PCL after extrusion and injection molding was quite soft, but the stiffness of the material increased after melt-blending with 20 wt.% of PLA, after the addition of 2 wt.% of C15, and after the preparation of the final microfibrillar composite. The indentation modulus and indentation hardness of all intermediate products and the final PCL/PLA/C15 microfibrillar composite were associated not only with the composition and morphology but also with the crystallinity of both components. The modulus of the final PCL/PLA/C15 composite was almost two times higher in comparison with the original PCL matrix.
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Reinforcement strategies improve interfacial adhesion, dispersion, and composite functionality in PLA/PCL-based composites.
“The literature shows that reinforcement strategies improve interfacial adhesion, dispersion, and composite functionality [24,27,31,32,33,34,89].”
From Nanocellulose-Reinforced Poly(Lactic Acid) and Poly(ε-caprolactone) Bio-Nanocomposites: A Review and Future Outlook for Poly(Lactic Acid)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) Blend Systems (2025) · cites this paper as [34]
The Conclusions (page unavailable) report that PLA fibrils and organoclay contributed to improved mechanical performance in PCL/PLA composites. The Processing-Induced Changes of Morphology section describes homogeneous filler dispersion, and the properties section infers good compatibility, but neither establishes that reinforcement improved dispersion or interfacial adhesion. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe O.MMT variant doubles the indentation modulus compared to neat PCL, indicating a significant increase in stiffness.
“The O.MMT variant notably doubles the indentation modulus compared to neat PCL, indicating a significant increase in stiffness, which is desirable for rigid packaging materials [34].”
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- Authors
- Slouf, M., Ujcic, A., Nevoralova, M., Vackova, T., Fambri, L., & Kelnar, I.
- Affiliations
- University of Trento (IT)
- Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ)
- Venue
- Frontiers in Materials
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-06-25
- Volume
- 7
- ISSN
- 2296-8016 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3037928832
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Materials (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Institutional Research Information System (Università degli Studi di Trento) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- INFM-OAR (INFN Catania) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (cc-by)
- Funders
- Grantová Agentura České Republiky
- Technologická Agentura České Republiky (TN01000008)
- Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer Nanocomposites and Properties
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Polymers and Plastics › Polymer crystallization and properties
- Keywords
- polycaprolactone, polylactic acid, organophilic montmorillonite, microfibrillar composites, biodegradable polymers, microindentation hardness, indentation modulus, crystallinity, flow-induced orientation, melt blending, stiffness enhancement, clay nanocomposites
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