4. Conclusions
These investigations presented that the rheological
studies can be predicted an optimum temperature profile
which was found every effective in developing biocomposites
by using extrusion and injection molding process.
The flow behavior studies also demonstrated that
the composites with bioadimide showed shear thinning
behavior that means less energy is required to process
the bio-composites. The thermal studies also supported
the rheological results. Using novel bioadimide in biocomposites,
the processability of composites was
improved considerably. This multifunctional bio-additive
increased adhesion slightly between wood fibers and
PLA. Consequently, the composites with bioadimide demonstrated superior mechanical properties as compared
to neat PLA and PLA/WP composites. The tensile modulus
of PLA/WP/bioadimide composites was improved 26%
compared to neat PLA. However, the effect was not so
dominant in terms of the tensile strength. In the absence
of bioadimide, PLA/WP composites showed poor flexural
strength. A remarkable improvement on the impact
strength of composites was noticed particularly for Izod
notched impact strength. X-ray CT results provided an
internal microstructure of PLA and its bio-composites.
Wood fibers are orientated toward to the flow direction
of the melt due to the geometry of die and pressure build
up in the system.