Experimental Investigation and Optimization of Microcrystalline Cellulose and Montmorillonite‐Filled, and Sorbitol Plasticized Polylactic Acid

Biocomposite materials have brought other possibilities to the manufacturing industry rather than synthetic materials. Biodegradable polymer materials such as polylactic acid (PLA) have attracted various industries’ attention for numerous applications due to their tensile strength (TS), while they have some mechanical weaknesses that prevent them from being utilized for different engineering applications. The amalgamation of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) at varying percentages (0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%) and montmorillonite (MTT) at the same percentages (0%, 3%, 6%, and 9%) serves as a filler, while sorbitol (S) is used as a plasticizer in concentrations of 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%. The material is fabricated at different temperatures (Ts) of 100°C, 125°C, 150°C, and 175°C using the melt‐mixing method, and the process is optimized to establish an effective experimental setup. This study prepared 16 samples through Taguchi’s orthogonal array design. The optimal factor level combinations were investigated for flexural strength (FS) at (3% MCC/9% MTT/20% S/175°C); at these levels FS is 96.5 MPa; flexural modulus (FM) at (6% MCC/9% MTT/20% S/175°C); at these control factors FS is 9.8 GPa; TS at (9% MCC/9% MTT/10% S/175°C); at these levels TS is 85.2 MPa; Young’s modulus (YM) at (6% MCC/9% MTT/0% S/150°C); at this experimental run YM is 4.22 GPa; hardness value (HV) at (6% MCC/9% MTT/10% S/175°C); at these levels HV is 138.2; impact strength (IS) at (9% MCC/9% MTT/20% S/175°C); at these factor combinations IS is 54.2 J/m; water absorption (WA) at (0% MCC/0% MTT/0% S/150°C); at this experimental run WA is 2.42%; and density (D) at (9% MCC/9% MTT/30% S/175°C) at this experimental run density is 0.0427 g/mm 3 . Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the regression model shows the statistical significance of the model and the significance of the factors. The comparison analysis indicated that the quality characteristics of the optimum MCC/MTT/S/PLA material are comparable to the performances of various engineering materials.