Abstract
In this innovative work, the fillers obtained by grinding Samanea Saman flowers were utilized for the fabrication of PLA biocomposites. Melt compounding of SSF fillers and PLA with a co-rotating twin-screw extruder permits the simple production of biocomposites with a substantial stage of filler distribution. The elemental compositions and surface morphology of PLA/SSF biocomposite were analyzed using energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) apparatus. The crystalline structure of the PLA/SSF composite was identified using a Bruker AXS X-ray diffractometer. The mechanical properties were also analyzed for different weight fractions (10, 20 wt.%) of SSF fillers loaded into PLA biocomposite. The thermal characterization was done using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. As shown by the results, all of the studied properties were significantly affected by the inclusion of SSF fillers. Tensile strengths of the 10 wt.% and 20 wt.% SSF-loaded PLA composites were 41 MPa and 43 MPa, respectively, compared to 37 MPa for the neat PLA specimen. The maximum flexural strength achieved was 72 +/- 0.5 MPa for 20 wt.% SSF-loaded PLA biocomposite, whereas the slightly lower strength achieved was 70 +/- 0.5 MPa for 10 wt.% filler reinforcement. The PLA matrix's lowest compressive strength of 330.5 MPa was found to be in the absence of natural fillers, whereas 10 wt.% and 20 wt.% PLA biocomposites that had been loaded with SSF showed higher compressive strength measurements of 36 and 37 MPa, respectively. It was also observed the slight difference in hardness values between neat PLA and 10 wt.% SSF-loaded biocomposite, but more difference with 20 wt.% SSF-loaded composite. The stiffening effect, good interfacial interaction, and homogeneous dispersion of SSF particles are the main reasons for the improvement in mechanical properties. The thermal analysis of PLA biocomposite reveals the slight shift in degradation temperature due to lower thermal stability of SSF fillers. Taking into account all of these facts, the PLA biocomposites with 20% SSF filler displayed excellent performance in the conducted experiments.