Nanoclay and copper oxide reinforced PLA/PBAT nanocomposites: EMI shielding, thermal stability, and mechanical properties

This research investigates bio-based green nanocomposites prepared by melt-mixing PLA and PBAT in a 70/30 weight ratio with nanoclay and copper oxide (CuO) as the nanoparticles. The study evaluated the effect of CuO on the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE), mechanical, thermal, and material dispersion properties of nanocomposites with and without nanoclay, even though CuO is generally used at less than 2% to improve the antimicrobial resistance of nanocomposites. The SEM image was used to evaluate the dispersion level of PBAT in PLA matrix. In the EMI study, the hybrid composition of 70/30/3/0.4 shows higher SE across the entire frequency range of the X-band (8.4 to 12.4 GHz). 5 parts (parts per hundred resin) nanoclay-based composites, the tensile strength increased from 31.0 MPa to 32.5 MPa, and elongation from 4.6 % to 30.2 %, along with improved thermal stability in the TGA analysis compared to the 70/30 blend. Nanocomposites with 0.4 and 0.8 parts CuO showed tensile properties comparable to the 70/30 blend, but a marginal decrease was observed with 1.2 parts. CuO-based composition showed lower thermal stability in the TGA analysis. The FTIR analysis indicates the absence of a chemical reaction or hydrogen bonding within the materials.