biodegradable thermoplastic vulcanizate nanocomposite with thermoresponsive shape memory behavior based on pla/nbr/cnc

In the present study, attempts have been made to design and fabricate a biobased and biodegradable thermoplastic vulcanizate (tpv) nanocomposite based on polylactic acid (pla), nitrile rubber (nbr), and rod-like cellulose nanocrystal (cnc) via dynamic vulcanization. melt rheological rheometry was employed to analyze the influence of dynamic vulcanization as well as the incorporation of cncs upon the melt viscosity and melt elasticity. results revealed synergistic enhancement of the elastic modulus and entropic elasticity by in situ dynamic cross-linking of the nbr phase and physical networks formed by the cellulose nanocrystals. this was evidenced by higher shape fixity and shape recovery behavior exhibited by nanocomposite tpvs compared to non-filled tpvs.