Bacterial Cellulose Nanopaper as Reinforcement for Polylactide Composites: Renewable Thermoplastic NanoPaPreg

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is often regarded as a prime candidate nano-reinforcement for the production of renewable nanocomposites. However, the mechanical performance of most BC nanocomposites is often inferior compared with commercially available polylactide (PLLA). Here, the manufacturing concept of paper-based laminates is used, i.e., PaPreg, to produce BC nanopaper reinforced PLLA, which has been called nanoPaPreg by the authors. It is demonstrated that high-performance nanoPaPreg (v(f) = 65 vol%) with a tensile modulus and strength of 6.9 +/- 0.5 GPa and 125 +/- 10 MPa, respectively, can be fabricated. It is also shown that the tensile properties of nanoPaPreg are predominantly governed by the mechanical performance of BC nanopaper instead of the individual BC nanofibers, due to difficulties impregnating the dense nanofibrous BC network.