AIMS Materials Science, 4(3): 814-831. DOI: 10.3934/matersci.2017.3.814 Received: 09 May 2017 Accepted: 29 June 2017 Published: 03 July 2017 http://www.aimspress.com/journal/Materials Research article Physical and thermo-mechanical properties of bionano reinforced poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate), hemp/CNF/Ag-NPs composites Harikrishnan Pulikkalparambil 1 , Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai 1,3 , Jinu Jacob George 1 , Krittirash Yorseng 2 , and Suchart Siengchin 2,3,4, * 1 Department of Polymer Science and Rubber Technology, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kochi, Kerala, India 2 Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand 3 Center of Innovation in Design and Engineering for Manufacturing, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand 4 Natural Composite Research Group, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand * Correspondence: Email: suchart.s.pe@tggs-bangkok.org. Abstract: A facile approach to prepare bionanocomposites of poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is reported in this paper. The effect of different wt% of hemp/Sihemp, carbon nanofiber (CNF) and silver nanoparticle (Ag-NPs) on the density, water absorption, melting and crystallization behavior, thermal stability, mechanical properties and morphology was investigated. The density of the composites was reduced except for Ag-NPs reinforced nanocomposites while diffusion coefficient and maximum water absorption were decreased for Sihemp reinforced composites making it a suitable material to replace conventional polymers. Significant improvement in tensile strength (TS) and tensile modulus (TM) was observed for the PBAT/Sihemp composites. For CNF and Ag-NPs reinforced nanocomposites, mechanical properties were retained at lower filler concentration. But as the concentration increased, there was a tendency for the nanofillers to agglomerate, which resulted in a reduction in mechanical properties. Keywords: poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate); bionanocomposites; crystallization; morphology; tensile properties