Towards sustainable composites: Fabrication, characterization, and biodegradation of all-cellulose composites (ACC) from ramie (Boehmeria nivea) and luffa (Luffa cylindrica)
All-cellulose composites (ACC) are reinforced and impregnated entirely with cellulose. In this study, ramie (Boehmeria nivea) was used as reinforcement materials because of their excellent mechanical properties and then combined with luffa (Luffa cylindrica) cellulose as the matrix to fabricate ACC with the conventional impregnation method (CIM). The NaOH/urea solution was selected to dissolve luffa cellulose. Epichlorohydrin (ECH) was added to the cellulose solution as a crosslinker for hydrogel formation. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was conducted to evaluate the interaction between ramie fibers and luffa matrices. The mechanical properties, density, and wettability were evaluated by varying the fiber mass fraction. The results showed that ACC from ramie-luffa had a tensile strength of 35.13 MPa at a high fiber fraction, a density under 1.3 g cm-3, and an average contact angle of up to 92.1 degrees. Soil-burial testing was conducted to approach the degradability of the ACC. The results demonstrated that the degradation of ACC reached 64.41 % after 28 days of burial in the soil. These findings suggest that ACC from ramie and luffa holds significant potential as a sustainable and environmentally friendly composite.
