Effect of carbon-rich biochar on mechanical properties of PLA-biochar composites

Agricultural biomass residues are emerged from harvesting and processing of agricultural crops. When the crop production increases, a large amount of biomass residues is produced and remained after cutting of peel, bunch, straw and stalk of crops. In this work, agricultural biomass residues (cassava rhizome, durian peel, pineapple peel and corncob) were selected as feedstock for carbon-rich biochar (CRB) production using a facile pyrolysis method. Proximate analysis and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize biomass feedstock. The results showed that the percentage of fixed carbon in biomass feedstock ranged between 11.91% and 17.51%. Characteristic differences of the CRB were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. The carbon content in the CRB was found to significantly depend on biomass origin. Interestingly, cassava rhizome, which has a higher percentage of fixed carbon, is a superior precursor for CRB production. The study of different pyrolysis temperature indicated that the carbon content of cassava rhizome derived CRB is increased with pyrolysis temperature. The tensile properties of composite between poly(lactic acid) PLA and different types of biomass-derived CRB were investigated. PLA composite incorporated with a higher carbon content-CRB tended to exhibit improved mechanical properties. Specifically, the elastic modulus and impact energy of PLA/CRB composite specimens increased remarkably with the incorporation of CRB powder. The current research indicates that CRB prepared from agricultural biomass residues could be a sustainable material for utilization in PLA biocomposites.