Green composites made of polyhydroxybutyrate and long-chain fatty acid esterified microcrystalline cellulose from pineapple leaf

Pineapple leaf fibres are an abundant agricultural waste product that contains 26.9% cellulose. The objective of this study was to prepare fully degradable green biocomposites made of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and microcrystalline cellulose from pineapple leaf fibres (PALF-MCC). To improve compatibility with PHB, the PALF-MCC was surface modified using lauroyl chloride as an esterifying agent. The influence of the esterified PALF-MCC laurate content and changes in the film surface morphology on biocomposite properties was studied. The thermal properties obtained by differential scanning calorimetry revealed a decrease in crystallinity for all biocomposites, with 100 wt% PHB displaying the highest values, whereas 100 wt% esterified PALF-MCC laurate showed no crystallinity. The addition of esterified PALF-MCC laurate increased the degradation temperature. The maximum tensile strength and elongation at break were exhibited when adding 5% of PALF-MCC. The results demonstrated that adding esterified PALF-MCC laurate as a filler in the biocomposite film could retain a pleasant value of tensile strength and elastic modulus whereas a slight increase in elongation can help to enhance flexibility. For soil burial testing, PHB/ esterified PALF-MCC laurate films with 5–20% (w/w) PALF-MCC laurate ester had higher degradation than films consisting of 100% PHB or 100% esterified PALF-MCC laurate. PHB and esterified PALF-MCC laurate derived from pineapple agricultural wastes are particularly suitable for the production of relatively low-cost biocomposite films that are 100% compostable in soil.