EVALUATION OF THE TENSILE AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF PLA/CNF NANOCOMPOSITES OBTAINED BY 3D PRINTING

The use of cellulose nanofibril as a reinforcement into the poly(lactic acid) -PLA matrix, can improve the mechanical resistance and elastic modulus of PLA andthus enable the use of this polymer in varied applications. This work aimed to developand characterize PLA nanocomposites with 0.5; 1 and 2% of cellulose nanofibrilprepared by extrusion, followed by 3D printing. The samples were evaluated by tensiletesting and optical microscopy. The results showed that there was variation in thesurface morphology of the specimens in the same formulation, however the tension atmaximum force, modulus of elasticity and deformation at rupture showed that therewas no statistical difference between pure PLA and composites. This result wasprobably due to by non-cellulosic materials (waxy) present in the nanoparticles.