Search results for "Biocomposite"
showing 10 items of 74 documents
Conifer Needles as Thermoplastic Composite Fillers: Structure and Properties
2016
This study describes the properties of thermoplastic polymer composites based on polyethylene (of low and high density) and ethylene-propylene copolymers using various types of conifer needles (pine, spruce, fir, and cedar) as fillers. For the needles, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and TGA/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TGA/FTIR) were performed to investigate their structures and thermal resistance, as required for the composite processing methods. Moreover, structural differences were studied for the analyzed fillers and composite materials (FTIR). The results were compared with the values obtained for composites with conifer wood flour. Composites with conifer needles (pine) …
Green Composites Based on PLA and Agricultural or Marine Waste Prepared by FDM
2021
Three dimensional-printability of green composites is recently growing in importance and interest, especially in the view of feasibility to valorize agricultural and marine waste to attain green fillers capable of reducing bioplastic costs, without compromising their processability and performance from an environmental and mechanical standpoint. In this work, two lignocellulosic fillers, obtained from Opuntia ficus indica and Posidonia oceanica, were added to PLA and processed by FDM. Among the 3D printed biocomposites investigated, slight differences could be found in terms of PLA molecular weight and filler aspect ratio. It was shown that it is possible to replace up to 20% of bioplastic …
Effect of biobased plasticizers, used as dispersing aids, on mechanical, rheological and thermal properties of micro fibrillated cellulose (MFC)/poly…
2022
Micro Fibrillated Cellulose (MFC) has gained interest both in academia and industry, but some critical issues must be overcome to exploit the industrial MFC/biocomposites uses. In particular, the first drawback is related to the MFC agglomeration during the primary processing. Encouraging results have been obtained using plasticizers, as dispersing aids, during the extrusion that optimizes the process parameters based on the variation of the melt viscosity. However, even if the plasticizer addition counterbalances the excessive biocomposite stiffness, caused by the addition of the MFC, its eventual migration from the finished product needs to be evaluated to avoid toughness reductions as we…
Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices
2019
[EN] Based on the unique ability of defibrillated sepiolite (SEP) to form stable and homogeneous colloidal dispersions of diverse types of nanoparticles in aqueous media under ultrasonication, multicomponent conductive nanoarchitectured materials integrating halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and chitosan (CHI) have been developed. The resulting nanohybrid suspensions could be easily formed into films or foams, where each individual component plays a critical role in the biocomposite: HNTs act as nanocontainers for bioactive species, GNPs provide electrical conductivity (enhanced by doping with MWCNTs) and, the CHI polymer matrix introduces mechanical and membrane pr…
Effects of halloysite content on the thermo-mechanical performances of composite bioplastics
2020
Abstract The aim of this study is the design and preparation of Mater-Bi/halloysite nanocomposite materials that could be employed as bioplastics alternative to the petroleum derived products. The biocomposite materials at variable halloysite content (from 0 to 30 wt%) were prepared by using the solvent casting method. We investigated the mechanical behaviour and the thermal properties of the prepared nanocomposites in order to estimate their suitability as biocompatible packaging materials. The thermo-mechanical characteristics were correlated to the nanocomposites' morphologies, which were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). As a general result, the physico-chemical performance…
Halloysite nanotubes loaded with peppermint essential oil as filler for functional biopolymer film
2016
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to show how a functional bionanocomposite film with both antioxidant and antimicrobial activities was successfully prepared by the filling of a pectin matrix with modified Halloysite nanotubes (HNT) containing the essential peppermint oil (PO). Firstly, HNT surfaces were functionalized with cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6]) molecules with the aim to enhance the affinity of the nanofiller towards PO, which was estimated by means of HPLC experiments. The HNT/CB[6] hybrid was characterized by several methods (thermogravimetry, FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy) highlighting the influence of the supramolecular interactions on the composition, therma…
Effect of sisal and hydrothermal ageing on the dielectric behaviour of polylactide/sisal biocomposites
2017
[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…
Time-resolved X-ray microtomographic measurement of water transport in wood-fibre reinforced composite material
2016
Natural fibre composites are prone to absorb moisture from the environment which may lead to dimensional changes, mold growth, degradation of mechanical properties or other adverse effects. In this work we develop a method for direct non-intrusive measurement of local moisture content inside a material sample. The method is based on X-ray microtomography, digital image correlation and image analysis. As a first application of the method we study axial transport of water in a cylindrical polylactic acid/birch pulp composite material sample with one end exposed to water. Based on the results, the method seems to give plausible estimates of water content profiles inside the cylindrical sample.…
Hybrid biocomposites based on polylactic acid and natural fillers from Chamaerops humilis dwarf palm and Posidonia oceanica leaves
2022
AbstractPlatelet-like and fibrous lignocellulosic fillers were achieved from the leaves of Chamaerops humilis (CHL) and Posidonia oceanica (POL) and used as a hybrid reinforcement for a polylactic acid (PLA) matrix at three different loading levels (from 5 to 20%). The materials were fully characterized from a morphological, physicochemical, mechanical, and dynamic-thermomechanical point of view. When compared to their counterpart containing either CHL or POL only, the resulting hybrid biocomposites showed the highest mechanical properties, with strengthening and stiffening effects respectively up to 120% and 50% higher than those expected from the linear combination of the two, and higher …
Composite Building Materials: Thermal and Mechanical Performances of Samples Realized with Hay and Natural Resins
2017
Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552 Recent years have seen an increasing public interest in issues related to energy saving and environmental pollution reduction in the building sector. As a result, many directives have been issued, the most important being the Directive 2010/31/EU (EPBD Recast) on the energy performance of buildings, which requires that "Member States shall ensure that by 31 December 2020 all new buildings are nearly zero-energy buildings". This goal can be obtained not only by reducing energy demand for heating and cooling, but also, for example, by improving building envelope performances. In this work, a first analysis of the thermal and structural behavi…