0000000000055668
AUTHOR
R. Teruel-juanes
Thermal kinetics for the energy valorisation of polylactide/sisal biocomposites
[EN] The thermal stability and decomposition kinetics of PLA/sisal biocomposites was discussed to evaluate the suitability of their use in energy recovery processes such as pyrolysis and combustion. The influence of the addition of sisal up to 30%wt, the presence of coupling agent, and the atmosphere of operation, i.e. inert or oxidative was discussed by means of multi-rate linear non-isothermal thermogravimetric experiments. All biocomposites showed a mean high heating value of 15 MJ/kg indicating their suitability for energy recovery processes. The thermal requirements of PLA/sisal decomposition were assessed in terms of onset decomposition temperature and apparent activation energy. A mi…
Molecular Mobility in Oriented and Unoriented Membranes Based on Poly[2-(Aziridin-1-yl)ethanol]
Unoriented and oriented membranes based on dendronized polymers and copolymers obtained by chemical modification of poly[2-(aziridin-1-yl) ethanol] (PAZE) with the dendron 3,4,5-tris[4-(n-dodecan-1-yloxy)benzyloxy]benzoate were considered. DSC, XRD, CP-MAS NMR and DETA, contribute to characterize the tendency to crystallize, the molecular mobility of the benzyloxy substituent, the dendritic liquid crystalline group and the clearing transition. The orientation of the mesogenic chain somewhat hindered this molecular motion, especially in the full substituted PAZE. The fragility, free volume and thermal expansion coefficients of these membranes near the glass transition are related to the orie…
Effect of sisal and hydrothermal ageing on the dielectric behaviour of polylactide/sisal biocomposites
[EN] The dielectric properties of virgin polylactide (PLA) and its reinforced composites with different weight amounts of sisal fibres were assessed at broad temperature (from - 130 degrees C to 130 degrees C) and frequency ranges (from 10(-2)-10(7) Hz), before and after being subjected to accelerated hydrothermal ageing. The synergetic effects of both the loading of sisal and hydrothermal ageing were analysed by means of dielectric relaxation spectra. The relaxation time functions were evaluated by the Havriliak-Negami model, substracting the ohmic contribution of conductivity. The intramolecular and intermolecular relaxations were respectively analysed by means of Arrhenius and Vogel-Fulc…
New silica based adsorbent material from rice straw and its in-flow application to nitrate reduction in waters: Process sustainability and scale-up possibilities.
Abstract This paper shows a particular example to move to a sustainable circular economical process from valorization of rice straw ashes by developing a green synthesis for obtaining a useful sub-product. This strategy can palliate negative effects of the agriculture waste practices on the environment and also the obtained silica reduced nitrate content in waters. It is demonstrated that the silica synthesis developed at lab was scalable more than a hundred times with good results. Adsorption studies of nitrate in standards and real well waters at lab scale and scaling-up provided similar results. Adsorption values near to 15 mg/g for nitrate standards and 8.5 mg/g for well water were obta…
Effect of graphene nanoplatelets on the dielectric permittivity and segmental motions of electrospun poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) nanofibers
The influence of the addition of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) on the intra/inter – molecular segmental motions of poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) was assessed by means of dielectric thermal analysis (DETA). The relaxation spectra were studied in terms of the dielectric permittivity (ε′) and the dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) at wide ranges of frequency (from 10−2 to 107 Hz) and temperature (from -150 to 140 °C). Two relaxation zones were disthinguished. Below the glass transition temperature (Tg), two β-relaxations were observed, which are characteristic local modes of mobility of the EVOH side groups, and related to the influence of the different surroundings of ethylene or vinyl …
Thermal and thermo-oxidative stability and kinetics of decomposition of PHBV/sisal composites
The decomposition behaviours of composites made of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and sisal were assessed in terms of thermal stability and decomposition kinetics, under inert and oxidative conditions, by means of multi-rate linear non-isothermal thermogravimetric experiments. A statistical design of experiments was applied to study the influence of the addition of sisal (0-10-20-30%wt), the presence coupling agent (Yes/No) and the applied conditions of work (inert or oxidative). An improvement of the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of PHBV with the addition of sisal was observed for all cases. An accurate methodology based on iso-conversional methods was applied…
Crosslinked chitosan/poly(vinyl alcohol)-based polyelectrolytes for proton exchange membranes
[EN] The preparation polyelectrolytes based on crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) was considered as a feasible alternative to develop highly functionalised, cost-effective and eco-friendly membranes for proton exchange fuel cell technologies. CS/PVA-based membranes were combined with sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) as crosslinking and sulfonating agent, and glycerol (GL) to promote flexibility and favour their manageability. The chemical structure, the thermo-oxidative behaviour, the ethanol uptake, the electric, the proton conductivity, and the performance in direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) were assessed. In general, all the CS/PVA-based polyelectrolytes showed a synergetic i…
Triblock SEBS/DVB crosslinked and sulfonated membranes: Fuel cell performance and conductivity
[EN] A set of styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS) membranes with 10 or 25 wt.% divinyl-benzene (DVB) as a crosslinking agent were prepared and validated. Physicochemical characterization revealed suitable hydrolytic and thermal stability of photo-crosslinked membranes containing 25%wt. DVB and post-sulfonated. These compositions were evaluated in H2/O2 single cells, and electrical and proton conductivities were furtherly assessed. The membranes with the milder post-sulfonation showed greater proton conductivity than those with excessive sulfonation. In terms of electrical conductivity, a universal power law was applied, and the values obtained were low enough for bei…
Polylactide-based self-reinforced composites biodegradation: Individual and combined influence of temperature, water and compost
[EN] Self-reinforced polymer composites (SRCs) are proposed as a suitable alternative for composite development, based in the combination of a polymeric matrix and a polymeric fibre made of the same polymer. SRCs based in polylactide (PLA) could be fully biodegradable and their valorisation routes could presumably be assimilated to those for neat PEA. In this sense, the aim of this study was to develop new self-reinforced PLA-based composites and ascertain their biodegradability. For this purpose, PLA-based SRCs were obtained through a thermo-compression procedure and their biodegradability corroborated under standard conditions (ISO 20200). Moreover, a deep study of the effect of the diffe…
Dielectric spectroscopy of novel thiol-ene/epoxy thermosets obtained from allyl-modified hyperbranched poly (ethyleneimine) and diglycidylether of bisphenol A
[EN] Dielectric Thermal Analysis (DETA) of a series of new thermoset obtained by click chemistry was performed. The new thermosets were obtained by a dual-curing process consisting in a first photochemical thiol-ene, followed by a thermal thiol-epoxy starting from an allyl-terminated hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (HBPEI) and different proportions of diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and the corresponding stoichiometric proportions of pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-mercaptopropionate, PETMP). The dielectric behaviour was obtained experimentally supressing the conductive effects. Two sub-Tg intramolecular non-cooperative gamma and beta relaxations and an intermolecular cooperative alpha…
Electrospun Poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/Graphene Nanoplatelets Composites of Interest in Intelligent Food Packaging Applications
Graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were synthetized from graphite powder and, thereafter, embedded in poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol) (EVOH) fibers by electrospinning in the 0.1&ndash
Crosslinked Sulfonated Poly(vinyl alcohol)/Graphene Oxide Electrospun Nanofibers as Polyelectrolytes
[EN] Taking advantage of the high functionalization capacity of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), bead-free homogeneous nanofibrous mats were produced. The addition of functional groups by means of grafting strategies such as the sulfonation and the addition of nanoparticles such as graphene oxide (GO) were considered to bring new features to PVA. Two series of sulfonated and nonsulfonated composite nanofibers, with different compositions of GO, were prepared by electrospinning. The use of sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) allowed crosslinked and functionalized mats with controlled size and morphology to be obtained. The functionalization of the main chain of the PVA and the determination of the optimum co…
Influence of chitin nanocrystals on the dielectric behaviour and conductivity of chitosan-based bionanocomposites
[EN] A series of bionanocomposite films based on chitosan, reinforced with chitin nanocrystals, were developed, and assessed in terms of dielectric behaviour and conductivity by using an experimental methodology that allows avoiding the conductivity contribution and the exclusion of contact and interfacial polarization effects. The dielectric relaxations at low and high frequency and temperatures were modeled by Havriliak-Negami functions. Below the glass transition temperature (Tg), the gamma and beta relaxations were observed, which were related to intramolecular and non-cooperative segmental movements. At higher temperatures, an intermolecular and cooperative macromolecular movement, rel…
Influence of the Molecular Weight on PVA/GO Composite Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
Composite polymer electrolyte membranes were prepared with poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Two different molecular weight (Mw), 67·103 and 130·103 g·mol−1 were selected, cross-linked with sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) and doped graphene oxide (GO). The effects on the membranes obtained from these polymers were characterized in order to evaluate the fuel cell performance. Electron microscopy showed a proper nanoparticle distribution in the polymer matrix. The chemical structure was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The absence of a crystalline structure and the enhancement on the thermal stability with the addition of 1% of GO was demonstrated by thermal characterization. Total tr…
Reduction of Nitrates in Waste Water through the Valorization of Rice Straw: LIFE LIBERNITRATE Project
An improved and more sustainable waste management system is required for successful development of technologies based on renewable sources. Rice straw is submitted to controlled combustion reactions and the produced ashes are chemically treated to produce silica. After a chemical activation step, the activated silica shows potential as an adsorbent agent and will be used to remove the excess of nitrates in groundwater and wells in the area of Alginet (Valencia, Spain), selected as a vulnerable zone within the Nitrates Directive. The demonstration activity aims to have a local impact on municipalities of 200 inhabitants or fewer, decreasing from current nitrate concentrations close to 50 mg/…
Novel silicon microparticles to improve sunlight stability of raw polypropylene
Oxidation of polyolefins by ultraviolet/visible irradiation is a significant limitation for their use in several technological applications. The use of high-tech additives such as silicon microparticles becomes a compositing strategy that can improve the performance of these materials at long-term service conditions. Silicon particles were added to non-additivated raw polypropylene (PP) prepared by hot melt extrusion and subjected to accelerated sunlight irradiation tests. The stability of thermal properties, mechanical performance and thermal decomposition behaviour of composites was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and thermogravimetry. T…