Multiple melting behavior of poly(lactic acid)-hemp-silica composites using modulated-temperature differential scanning calorimetry

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-hemp-nanosilica (PHS) composites were prepared by impregnation of hemp woven fabric with PLA solution. Nanosilica was dispersed in the PLA solution to introduce a matrix reinforcing nanophase within the composite. The melting behavior of PLA composites was obtained by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and modulated-temperature DSC (mT-DSC). Multiple melting which appeared in the nonisothermal heating curve showed that the temperature of a low melting peak increased when using a slower scanning rate. The incorporation of nanosilica in PLA composites affected the melting temperature (T-m) and sufficiently formed nucleation sites that promoted the growth of PLA crystals. Composites analyzed by a temperature-modulated program showed a broad exothermic peak before the melting peak in the non-reversing heat capacity and endothermic melting in the reversing heat capacity curve. This behavior was explained by a process of partial melting, recrystallization and remelting (mrr). The mT-DSC resolved that hemp fiber induced recrystallization and nanosilica acted as an effective nucleating agent, which promoted small and imperfect crystals that changed successively into more stable crystals through a melt-recrystallization process.