INJECTION MOULDING OF PLA (POLYLACTIC ACID) REINFORCED BACTERIAL CELLULOSE FIBER FROM NATA DE COCO BIOCOMPOSITES

Abstract

For many applications, natural fibers provide reinforcement properties at lower cost, lower density, and higher
strength and stiffness. The potential advantages of natural fiber have been well documented and are generally
based on environmental friendliness as well as health and safety factors. Most researches concentrate on natural
fibre/nondegradable polymer composites but research reports on natural/biodegradable polymer composites are
rather limited. The performance of natural fiber including recycled newspaper fiber, bamboo and hemp fiber,
nata de cassava etc, reinforced PLA composites has been investigated.  Determined the mechanical properties
of the PLA/jute fiber composites and showed that the tensile strength of composites was significantly higher
than that of PLA. But the elongation at break of the composites is still very low as about 2%. Cellulose is a
biopolymer whose availability on earth is abundant, known as a major component in plants. But cellulose is also
an extracellular microbial polymer. Cellulose bacteria is a specific product of primary metabolism. Cellulose is
synthesized by bacteria derived from Acetobacter, Rhizobium, Agrobacterium, and Acetobacter generation
Sarcina. Effectively effective gram is acetobacter xylinum acetic acid bacteria. Cellulose bacteria has been
applied as nata de coco, wound care products, and tissue engineering. In addition, bacterial cellulose also has the
potential to strengthen the polymer to form a nanocomposite
Keywords: Bacterial, Nata De Coco