POS7-0324
Surface-Modified Cellulose as Nucleating Agents for Enhanced Crystallization of Biodegradable Polymer Composites
Topic
S7. Innovations in Polymeric Composites: From Design and Processing to Industrial Applications
When and Where
Sep 30, 2026
08:30 - 09:30
Room 301 (Grand Ballroom)
Session Chairs
Heesuk KIM
Jinhye BAE
Presenter(s)
Jisu Kim (Chonnam National University)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
As environmental concerns over petroleum-based polymers continue to grow, there has been increasing interest in developing composites based on biodegradable polymers. However, biodegradable polymers suffer from slow crystallization kinetics, limiting their processability. To address this, the use of nucleating agents has been proposed as an effective strategy, and cellulose has emerged as a promising candidate owing to its widely available and renewable nature. However, its inherent hydrophilicity leads to poor compatibility with the hydrophobic polymer matrix, necessitating hydrophobic surface modification to broaden its applicability. In this study, cellulose was hydrophobically modified via esterification, and a further modified cellulose was prepared by grafting polymer through radical polymerization. The successful modification at each step was confirmed by FT-IR and NMR analyses. Both modified celluloses were incorporated into a biodegradable polymer matrix as nucleating agents to fabricate composite films, which were then evaluated in terms of thermal and optical properties. The results demonstrated that both modified celluloses improved the hydrophobicity of the composite films and significantly elevated the Tc, indicating enhanced crystallization behavior. These findings suggest that the modified cellulose effectively functions as a nucleating agent for biodegradable polymers, offering a promising approach toward fully bio-based and environmentally sustainable polymer composites.
