Thermal, Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Cellulose/Lignin Nanocomposites

Lignin, a lignocellulosic polymer material, is an important active ingredient for the high-value use of renewable resources. Thus, policies for the recovery and high value-added use of renewable lignocellulosic biomass are a realistic engineering approach to address concerns such as the climate and energy crisis. In this work, the mechanical properties, thermal stability and morphology of cellulose/lignin nanocomposites were studied. Nanocomposite films containing different proportions of lignin (2.5%, 5%, 10% and 20%) were prepared. Thermal properties were assessed via thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, mechanical properties via tensile test and morphological properties via scanning electron microscopy techniques. It was observed that nanolignin and nanocellulose structures are compatible with each other and depending on the main degradation temperature, the thermal stability of 2.5% lignin-containing nanocomposites is higher than that of other composites. From the results obtained, it was determined that the nanocomposite film containing 2.5% nanolignin had high thermal stability, mechanical strength and suitable morphological structure compared to other samples.