This work focused on investigating the efficacy of clay nanoparticles loading in the medium velocity impact resistance of kenaf/polylactic acid (PLA) biocomposites. Kenaf/PLA biocomposites with different nanoclay loadings of 0, 3, 5 and 7% by weight were fabricated and their medium velocity impact resistance tested on a gas gun. Results indicate that the addition of nanoclay in the biocomposites improved the medium velocity impact resistance of the biocomposites, specifically the perforation threshold limit, energy absorbed, crack and damage resistance. Improvements on these properties were thought to be due to enhancements brought about by the nanoclays on interfacial bonding and microstructural properties of the biocomposites revealed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses. The nanoclays reduced the micro-voids thereby improving bonding between PLA and kenaf fibres. SEM–EDX analysis detected silicon and aluminium elements which were from the nanoclays and the elemental maps showed that all the elements were uniformly distributed in all cases with good dispersion of the nanoclays. However, incidences of nanoclay agglomeration were observed at 7 wt% nanoclay content which had adverse effects on the biocomposites properties. Optimum results were achieved with 5 wt% nanoclay content, beyond which a reduction in the medium velocity impact resistance was observed. The perforation threshold, energy absorption capacity, resistance to damage and prevention of crack propagation increased by 41.9, 109, 26.5 and 28.9%, respectively, at the 5 wt% nanoclay content level. The study shows that the addition of nanoclay improves the impact properties of kenaf/PLA biocomposites within the medium velocity range. The novel nanoclay impregnated biocomposite material developed is suitable for applications where good impact properties are required.

这项工作的重点是研究在洋麻/聚乳酸（PLA）生物复合材料的中等速度冲击阻力下负载粘土纳米颗粒的功效。制备了具有0、3、5和7％重量比的不同纳米粘土负载的Kenaf / PLA生物复合材料，并在气枪上测试了它们的中速抗冲击性。结果表明，在生物复合材料中添加纳米粘土改善了生物复合材料的中速抗冲击性，特别是穿孔阈值极限，能量吸收，抗裂性和抗损伤性。这些性能的改善被认为是由于纳米粘土通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和X射线衍射（XRD）分析揭示的生物复合材料的界面键合和微结构性能提高所致。纳米粘土减少了微孔，从而改善了PLA和洋麻纤维之间的结合。SEM-EDX分析检测到了来自纳米粘土的硅和铝元素，元素图显示，在所有情况下，所有元素均均匀分布，纳米粘土具有良好的分散性。然而，在7重量％的纳米粘土含量下观察到纳米粘土团聚的发生，这对生物复合材料性能具有不利影响。当纳米粘土含量为5 wt％时，可获得最佳结果，超过此值，观察到中速抗冲击性降低。在纳米粘土含量为5 wt％时，穿孔阈值，能量吸收能力，抗破坏性和防止裂纹扩展分别增加了41.9％，109％，26.5％和28.9％。研究表明，纳米粘土的添加改善了中速范围内洋麻/ PLA生物复合材料的冲击性能。开发的新型纳米粘土浸渍生物复合材料适用于需要良好冲击性能的应用。