Mechanochemical Preparation of New Biocomposites Starting from Polymers and Plant-Derived Fibres

This work presents the extrusion-based preparation of new biocomposites from two plant fibres (namely Cannabis sativa L. and Opuntia ficus-indica Mill.) that are added to two different polymers (an ethylene-octene elastomer and polylactic acid), which act as matrices. Structural and morphological characterization (using X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy) have been used to correlate the interactions between the biomass and the polymers employed with the efficiency of the proposed approach. It was found that Opuntia-based composites can be easily formed in a range of biomass/polymer ratios. However, the interaction between hemp and the matrix means that only specific ratios can form tightly bound composites. The present communication thus paves the way for more complex and comprehensive studies on the formulation of biocomposites containing these matrices.