Effect of MMT Clay on Mechanical, Thermal and Barrier Properties of Treated Aloevera Fiber/ PLA-Hybrid Biocomposites

In this research, the PLA- biocomposite and PLA- hybrid biocomposites were prepared with twin screw extruder, two-roll mill, and compression molding method. The PLA based bio-composites are fabricated with 30% of treated aloevera fiber and 0, 1, 2 and 3 wt% nanoclay filler. The influence of MMT clay on thermal, mechanical and barrier properties of PLA-biocomposite and PLA-hybrid biocomposites has been studied. The PLA-hybrid biocomposites thermal, mechanical and water resistance properties are increased with adding of MMT clay. However, 1 wt.% MMT included PLA-hybrid biocomposites exhibits increased tensile, flexural, impact and abrasion resistance properties than PLA- biocomposite, the improvements 5.72, 6.08, 10.43, and 45.71% respectively are observed. The PLA-bio and hybrid biocomposites showed higher tensile modules 25.76, 18.84, 31.53 and 32.30% respectively, and flexural modules 61.42, 60.95, 66.66 and 79.04% respectively, than pure- PLA. The results TGA analysis depicted that inclusion of MMT clay can improve the decomposition temperature of the PLA-biocomposites. The addition of 3 wt.% MMT clay can improve the PLA- biocomposite decomposition temperature from 295 to 299o C in T 10% likewise 338 to 350o C in T 75%. SEM analysis discloses that, MMT clay not only improves micro-structure and also it acts as a load transfer mechanism. The Physical barrier properties and biodegradability results show that water resistance of biocomposites improved and biodegradability decreased due to adding of MMT clay.