Unravelling the Influence of Chitin Nanowhisker and Interphase Aspects on the Tensile Modulus of Polymer Composites: A Modeling Approach Publisher



Fotros M ; Yeganeh J K ; Naqvi M ; Sharifianjazi F ; Soudmand B H ; Zare Y
Source: Industrial Crops and Products Published:2026

Abstract

This study presents a predictive model for the tensile modulus of chitin nanowhisker (ChNW)-filled polymer composites by integrating a three-phase interphase architecture with a logarithmic refinement of the ChNW aspect ratio within the Halpin–Tsai framework. Unlike previous Halpin–Tsai-based interphase models, the proposed approach simultaneously accounts for the mechanical contribution of the interphase, characterized by its thickness (ti[jls-end-space/]), modulus (Ei[jls-end-space/]), and volume fraction, and the experimentally observed saturation of reinforcement efficiency at high aspect ratios. Model validation using experimental datasets from various polymer–ChNW systems demonstrates excellent agreement with measured values and substantially improved predictive accuracy compared with the classical Halpin–Tsai model. Parametric analyses performed under representative conditions (matrix modulus of 1 GPa, ChNW modulus of 60 GPa, ChNW diameter of 20 nm, ChNW length of 230 nm and ChNW volume portion of 0.03) show that increasing ti from 0 to 10 nm increases the predicted tensile modulus from 1.09 to 1.18 GPa, whereas increasing Ei from 1 to 5 GPa enhances it from 1.05 to 1.175 GPa. Under the same conditions, the predicted modulus increases with ChNW length, decreases with increasing ChNW diameter, and approaches a plateau at ChNW aspect ratios above approximately 25. Overall, the proposed model provides a physically consistent and broadly applicable framework for predicting and optimizing the mechanical performance of sustainable ChNW-reinforced polymer composites. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/