The mechanical and fluid absorption properties of polylactide composites fibres produced via solution electrospinning

Industrial PLA obtained from Suzhou, China was used. The agro-waste (rice husk) was from a rice plantation in Abakaliki, South East, Nigeria. The solvent used in the electrospinning process was Dichloromethane by Shandong Jinhao Int`l Trade Co. Ltd. CAS number 75-09-2, with a purity of 96% and concentration of 14.9M. The pulverized and sieved Treated and Untreated rice husks served as reinforcements (i.e., fillers) for the PLA electrospun nanocomposite. The pulverized and sieved (treated and untreated) rice husks were respectively dissolved in Dichloromethane after being weighed. Different grams of PLA were also dissolved in dichloromethane solvent to form the polymer solution. The different solutions of PLA/fillers were mixed accordingly following 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 wt.% of the fillers. The solutions were electrospun and the samples were subjected to mechanical tensile test and fluid absorption test.