Orientation of Polylactic Acid–Chitin Nanocomposite Films via Combined Calendering and Uniaxial Drawing: Effect on Structure, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties

The orientation of polymer composites is one way to increase the mechanical properties of the material in a desired direction. In this study, the aim was to orient chitin nanocrystal (ChNC)-reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites by combining two techniques: calendering and solid-state drawing. The effect of orientation on thermal properties, crystallinity, degree of orientation, mechanical properties and microstructure was studied. The orientation affected the thermal and structural behavior of the nanocomposites. The degree of crystallinity increased from 8% for the isotropic compression-molded films to 53% for the nanocomposites drawn with the highest draw ratio. The wide-angle X-ray scattering results confirmed an orientation factor of 0.9 for the solid-state drawn nanocomposites. The mechanical properties of the oriented nanocomposite films were significantly improved by the orientation, and the pre-orientation achieved by film calendering showed very positive effects on solid-state drawn nanocomposites: The highest mechanical properties were achieved for pre-oriented nanocomposites. The stiffness increased from 2.3 to 4 GPa, the strength from 37 to 170 MPa, the elongation at break from 3 to 75%, and the work of fracture from 1 to 96 MJ/m(3). This study demonstrates that the pre-orientation has positive effect on the orientation of the nanocomposites structure and that it is an extremely efficient means to produce films with high strength and toughness.