Development of Thermal Properties and Surface Morphology of Poly(L-lactic)/Chitosan Blend with Microcrystalline Cellulose Obtained from Natural Jute Fiber

This research is a systematic study of how Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) affects the thermal properties and surface morphology of Poly(L-lactic acid)(PLLA)/Chitosan blend by acting as reinforcement agent. MCC has high strength, high stiffness and high strain used for this work, has been obtained by acid (sulfuric acid) hydrolysis of α-cellulose extracted from jute fiber. Blends were prepared with a constant percentage (20 percent) of Chitosan and different percentage of PLLA and MCC by solution casting methods. Then samples of those blends have been characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) for the confirmation of blending, Thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) & Differential thermal analysis (DTA) for the thermal properties measurement and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) for measuring element distribution and surface morphology. FTIR Analysis curves showed that there is no new characteristic absorption peaks appeared in the spectrum except slight shifting due to hydrogen bond and confirmed a formation of suitable blends. TGA and DTG results indicated that MCC can improve the heat resistivity of the PLLA/Chitosan blends by increasing its degradation temperature upto 5%. Comparison of DTA peaks also ensured developed thermal properties. Image of SEM shows the improvement of surface morphology.