PLA based biocomposites reinforced with Arundo donax fillers

In this work, for the first time, a natural and almost inexpensive filler obtained by grinding the culms of Arundo donax was used to prepare PLA based biocomposites. The composites were prepared by melt compounding PLA with A. donax filler (ADF). The influence of the content and size of ADF on the morphology and on the mechanical and thermal properties of PLA–ADF composites was evaluated. Moreover, ADF was extracted from composites to evaluate the effect of processing on morphology and dimensions of the incorporated filler. Furthermore, the experimental elastic moduli of the biocomposites have been fitted, employing two theoretical models, i.e., Hill and Halpin–Tsai. The results showed that the addition of ADF significantly influenced all the investigated properties. In particular, by increasing the ADF content, both tensile and flexural moduli greatly increased. On the contrary, both tensile and flexural strengths of the filled materials decreased if compared with the neat PLA.