Improvement of the impact performance of a starch based biopolymer via the incorporation of Miscanthus giganteus fibres

This paper examines the possibilities of using an established energy crop; Miscanthus giganteus as a filler/reinforcement in injection mouldable thermoplastic composites utilising a starch-based biopolymer; Novamont Mater-Bi as the matrix. A design of experiments methodology was used to reveal how varying the processing parameters and material formulation affected the impact performance of the biocomposite. The addition of Miscanthus fibres to the polymer results in composites with higher impact absorbance and loading than those of standard Mater-Bi.