Copy paper as a source of reinforcement for biodegradable composites – Influence of fibre loading, processing method and layer arrangement – An overview

The study investigates the use of copy paper in poly (butylene adipate terephthalate)-PBAT and polylactide-PLA composites. The influence of paper volume fraction (21, 30 and 48%) on the void content and the composite properties was analysed by using two different compression moulding methods. An increasing fibre content lead to significantly improved tensile characteristics, while the Charpy impact strength showed a toughness decrease for PBAT and an increase for PLA composites. Additionally, layered composites, where either two stiff PLA composite layers enclosed a ductile PBAT composite core or vice versa, were produced with the aim to increase the toughness. Due to the high elongation of PBAT, the insufficient fibre/matrix adhesion and the low fibre length, this goal could not be reached. However, copy paper represents a good reinforcing component achieving a maximum strength of 120 MPa and a tensile modulus of 10.2 GPa at the highest paper volume fraction in PLA.