Fabrication and evaluation of novel composite resin material using chitin nanofiber

There is a global effort to realize the United Nations SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) for a future that should be. In recent years, the problem of marine pollution caused by microplastics has attracted attention. As a measure against this, Chitin nanofibers (Chitin-NF), which is a renewable resource material, has begun to be studied for its application in various fields as a reinforcing material. In this study, we prepared a resin-based composite material using Chitin-NF, established the optimum composite ratio and optimum composite time, and evaluated the mechanical properties. Consider the effectiveness and future potential of Chitin-NF.In this method, 1 ml of slurry Chitin-NF was added to 1 g of base material PLA pellets using 1% acetic acid aqueous solution as a solvent to prepare a mixed solution, which was stirred by a magnetic stirrer. Then, the acetic acid aqueous solution was dried in a dry atmosphere furnace to prepare a composite material. As a test piece, Molded by injection molding machine. The molding conditions are an injection temperature of 205 °C and a mold temperature of about 60 °C.The following results were obtained in the fabrication and evaluation of composite resin materials using Chitin-NF. An attempt was made to use a magnetic stirrer and stirring for 1 h was the optimum time. It was confirmed that the maximum tensile stress in PLA/Chitin-NF composite material after stirring for 1 h was improved by 10%. The maximum bending stress of the composite was lower than that of the PLA alone. The Young's modulus reflected the effect of Chitin-NF and improved in all composite materials. However, the flexural modulus did not change much. However, it was confirmed that there was a proportional relationship with the stirring time.