Mechanical and thermal investigation of thermoplastic nanocomposite films fabricated using micro- and nano-sized fillers from recycled cotton T-shirts

The thermal and mechanical performance of composites with nano-sized cotton fillers embedded in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is investigated. Microfibrillated cotton was prepared by microgrinding mechanical treatment of pulverized cotton (pCot) derived from waste T-shirts, resulting in nano-sized fibrils of the cellulose that retain high crystallinity. Film composites of LDPE with pCot before and after microgrinding were fabricated through melt extrusion and the effect of filler size on mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of the composite was investigated. Compounding microfibrillated cotton with LDPE resulted in well-dispersed nanocomposites with no discoloration after 10 min of melt extrusion at 170 °C. At concentrations up to 10 % by weight, the composites showed increased modulus, increased tensile strength and a slight decrease in elongation to break. Further improvement in the dispersion and mechanical properties of the cotton-based fillers was realized by the use of LDPE powder instead of polymer pellets fed to the extruder. This research demonstrates the processing and applicability of the use of recycled cotton-based nano-sized fillers in melt-processing.