Poly(lactic acid)/modified chitosan-based microcellular foams: Thermal and crystallization behavior with wettability and porosimetric investigations

This article addresses a less expensive and elegant method for the fabrication of hydrophobic poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/modified chitosan (MC)-based bionanocomposite foams with high porosity (>~80%) and open cellular interconnected morphology. An increment of ~2.3-fold of cell density and reduction of ~1.3-fold of cell size are observed at highest loading of MC (i.e. 3 wt %). The MC also influences the hydrophobicity (up to ~10 increment in contact angle) of the foams. Structure–property relationship of the fabricated foams has been investigated along with wettability behavior. Thermal degradation kinetics and degradation mechanism of the fabricated foams have been investigated by using different approaches like modified Coats Redfern (modified CR), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger, and Criado. Crystallization behavior of the fabricated foams are also investigated. Increase in surface area with MC-loading and nucleating behavior of MC in the PLA matrix is confirmed by the porosimetric investigation of the fabricated foams. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47236.