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At least 433 records · Page 24

Effect of the Incorporation of Lysozyme on the Properties of Jackfruit Starch Films

Jackfruit starch based biodegradable films containing lysozyme were characterized for their antimicrobial activity, thickness, solubility, water vapor permeability and mechanical properties. The biodegradable films had good appearance and antimicrobial activity against Micrococcus lysodeikticus. The thickness of the biodegradable films were not affected by the variation in pH, but the addition of lysozyme increased the thickness, the thickest films being those with the highest lysozyme concentrations. The variation in pH of the filmogenic solutions affected the solubility of the biodegradable films, water solubility being greatest at pH 7.0 and with the highest lysozyme concentration. The permeability of the biodegradable films was increased by incorporating lysozyme. The lysozyme concentration and pH variation caused changes in the mechanical properties. The addition of 8% lysozyme increased the tensile strength and Young’s modulus for all the pH values studied. With respect to the release of antimicrobial activity, the diffusion of lysozyme was shown to follow Fickian transport mechanism.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Investigation of Polypropylene-Montmorillonite Clay Nanocomposite Films Containing a Pro-degradant Additive

This paper investigates the performance of polypropylene (PP) incorporated with montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay, maleic anhydride grafted PP (PP-g-MAH), and pro-degradant additive (TDPA®), which provides additional benefits of increasing biodegradability. A twin-screw extruder was used to compound PP, MMT, PP-g-MAH, and TDPA, and the extruded nanocomposite films were collected for testing, and their mechanical, thermal, barrier, oxo-biodegradability, and morphological properties were evaluated. Tensile test, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), oxygen permeability test, soil burial test, X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis were used to investigate these properties. Increasing MMT content from 1 to 3 phr increases tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the neat PP samples up to ca.45% and 27% respectively. Improvement of thermal properties for neat PP samples was observed by increasing MMT content from 1 to 3 phr. However, at 4 phr MMT content, both mechanical and thermal properties of nanocomposites dropped slightly. For soil buried samples, DSC and TGA results revealed significant changes in the thermal properties for PP samples containing TDPE additive compared to neat PP, clearly confirming the effectiveness of this TDPA additive in promoting oxo-biodegradation process of PP. Similarly weight loss evaluation result shows that about 4% weight loss for sample (PP/TD), which is PP and TDPA blend only, compared to neat PP. However, increasing MMT content from 1 to 4 phr slightly reduced weight loss of PP from 3.5 to 1.5%, respectively, for 6 month soil exposure period, which indicates that increasing MMT content was detrimental to the degradation process. For higher MMT content, the oxygen permeability of PP nanocomposites was decreased by 46% of the corresponding values for neat PP. The XRD and TEM results confirmed the exfoliation structure of the nanocomposites. The morphological change after soil burial test was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Novel Biocomposites Based on Sunflower Oil and Alfa Fibers as Renewable Resources

The aim of this work is to develop biocomposites based on modified sunflower oil as resin and short natural fibers from Alfa plants (Stipa tenacissima) as reinforcement. Epoxidized sunflower oil (ESFO) was chemically modified via acrylation reaction to obtain acrylated epoxidized sunflower oil resin (AESFO). The AESFO resin was then copolymerized with styrene as co-monomer in the presence of boron trifluoride (BF{sub 3}) as cationic initiator and cobalt octoate (Co) as catalyst. Experimental conditions of this modification were optimized by varying styrene, Co and BF{sub 3} wt%. The styrene was varied from 30, 40 to 50 wt% while the catalyst (Co) was varied from 0, 0.01, 0.02 to 0.03 wt%. Two different percents of BF{sub 3} were considered: 0.5 and 1 wt%. The prepared samples were evaluated according to their appearance and then characterized in terms of tensile properties (stress at break, Young’s modulus and elongation at break) to determine the best ratio of styrene/BF{sub 3}/Co. Alfa fibers, used as bio-reinforcement, were treated with a 5% NaOH solution and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Biocomposites were prepared by using untreated (UAF) and treated Alfa fibers (TAF) at a ratio of 5 wt% and characterized in terms of tensile properties and morphology by SEM. The best results were obtained with TAF. Then, the ratio of TAF was varied (5, 7.5 and 10 wt%) and the tensile and thermal properties of the biocomposites were characterized. The results showed that the best results were obtained with the ratio of 7.5 wt%.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Poly(lactic acid)/Cellulose Composites Obtained from Modified Cotton Fibers by Successive Acid Hydrolysis

This work is focused on the hydrolysis of cotton fibers from waste textiles to obtain micro and nanofibers to be used as reinforcements in polymer composites. To promote their compatibility with polymeric matrix, hydrolyzed cotton fibers were surface modified with various silane compounds. Thus, these fibers were mixed with commercial poly(lactic acid) (PLA) at 5% w/w loading by melt compounding. Acid treatments caused a decrease of the crystallinity index whereas the thermal stability was significantly improved, especially for cellulose fibers hydrolyzed in two steps. Morphological analysis revealed a reduction of the fibers diameter and a decrease of their length as a consequence of the hydrolysis. NMR analysis confirmed the silanization of the fibers by reaction with the silane agent. Tensile tests revealed that silanization treatments were able to increase the composite Young’s modulus and the stress at break with respect to the neat matrix, indicating that silanization improved the polymer/fiber compatibility interfacial adhesion. The overall results demonstrated that applying suitable surface modification strategies, waste cotton textiles can be effectively recycled as fillers in polymer based composites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Preparation of nanofibrillated cellulose and application in reinforced PLA/starch nanocomposite film

Polylactic acid (PLA), one of the most promising biopolymers with exceptional properties, is being used in a wide variety of applications in diverse fields. However, low degradation rate, relatively high cost and inherently high brittleness of PLA severely hamper its further development, particularly in functional nanocomposites for bio-based packaging. In the present work, green, biodegradable and reinforced PLA-based nanocomposite films were designed and prepared, where starch was incorporated for reducing the overall cost of nanocomposites for large-scale application, and nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) isolated from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) via a completely green process was employed as a reinforcing phase. Initially, the morphology structure and dimension of the NFC samples isolated by high-pressure homogenization (HPH) coupled with hot water pretreatment were characterized using SEM, FT-IR, XRD, and laser scattering particle analyzer. Moreover, the effect of NFC loadings on the rheological behavior of the PLA based nanocomposite suspensions and the overall properties of the corresponding nanocomposite films were investigated. Results indicated that increased NFC loadings reduced the shear viscosity and shear stress of the nanocomposite suspensions. Furthermore, the desired PLA/starch/NFC nanocomposite films were found to exhibit improved tensile strength, Young’s modulus and reduced air permeability in comparison to pure PLA/starch films. This work offered an effective route for the preparation of biodegradable and reinforced PLA-based nanocomposite films, which may be promising bio-nanocomposite materials for food packaging applications.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Effect of Rice Husk Derived Nanosilica on the Structure, Properties and Biodegradability of Corn-Starch/LDPE Composites

Development of material with enhanced mechanical properties and biodegradability by the incorporation of synthesized inorganic nanostructured mesoporous silica from rice husk has been investigated. The produced nanosilica (≈ 25 nm and 213.045 m{sup 2}/g surface area) and nanosilica blended LDPE/starch composites were extensively characterised by SEM, FTIR, XRD, XRF, TEM, EDAX and TGA analysis. The low cost of production estimated, ensures its feasibility toward large scale application. The addition of nanosilica into the matrix led to the enhancement of Young’s modulus and stiffness by a value of 535.6 MPa and 32172.81 N/m respectively at 3% nanosilica content, thereby enhancing the initial rigidity and resistivity towards deformation making a better biodegradable substitute in terms of initial application range. The MFI and hardness value also increased with increase of silica content upto 1.5% and 2% respectively to 7.23 g/10 min and 42 (Shor D). Increase in nanofiller content improved the value of degradation rate constant (k) of the weight loss data plot in both vegetable waste and garden soil environment. The addition of 1.5% of nanosilica to a blend of 80% LDPE and 20% starch showed almost the same biodegradation rate as that without nanosilica but with superior mechanical properties and applicability range.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Effect of Talc on Mechanical Characteristics and Fracture Toughness of Poly(lactic acid)/Poly(butylene succinate) Blend

This research investigates the effect of talc additive on physical and mechanical characteristics of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) polymer blend. In the study, the talc content is varied between 0, 5, 10, and 20 parts per hundred resin (phr) and the PLA/PBS ratio is 80/20 w/w. The results reveal that talc enhances the mechanical properties of PLA/PBS blend. Specifically, tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and impact strength of PLA/PBS/talc composite increase as talc content rises. In addition, fracture toughness increases substantially as talc quantity is raised. The enhanced fracture toughness is attributable to nucleation of talc which promotes crystallization of PLA while hindering PBS crystal growth. Moreover, morphology analysis shows efficient distribution of talc in the polymer matrix.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Toward Greener Polymeric Blends: Study of PBAT/Thermoplastic Whey Protein Isolate/Beeswax Blends

This work evaluated the effects of partial substitution of PBAT by thermoplastic whey protein isolate (WPIT) with addition of beeswax through blends processing and their morphological, mechanical, structural, thermal and rheological properties. Whey protein isolate (WPI) was denatured at 90 °C, using glycerol as plasticizer, to be transformed in a thermoplastic material and subsequently blended with PBAT using a torque rheometer at 130 °C. Addition of 10 and 30% of WPIT in the PBAT matrix was investigated with and without beeswax. Blends were pressed as films with ~ 320 µm of thickness. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of PBAT/WPIT blends films revealed the presence of domains. These domains are compounded of whey protein, while at the continuous phase a moderate degree of mixture between PBAT and WPIT was observed by Raman analyses. WPIT did not alter the degree of crystallinity and the glass-transition temperature (T{sub g}) of the PBAT in the blends. Thermogravimetric curves of the blends showed decomposition stages related to WPIT and PBAT phases. Thermal stability of blends decreased in comparison to WPIT, which was associated to the cleavage of disulfide bonds of WPIT during processing and causes other kind of interaction between components. Besides, blends containing WPIT remained non-rigid polymers with Young’s modulus below 70 MPa. The tensile strength and elongation at break decreased due the presence of WPIT. Beeswax did not influence the thermal and mechanical properties explored in this study.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The Taste of Waste: The Edge of Eggshell Over Calcium Carbonate in Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber

Rubber technology experiences a new age by the use of biowaste or natural fillers. In this regard, taking properties of reinforcing agents from biowaste fillers remains as the challenging matter. Chicken eggshell (ES) biowaste has recently been introduced to substitute calcium carbonate (CaCO{sub 3}) duo to its superior properties and low price. In this work, composites based on acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) reinforced with ES and CaCO{sub 3} microfillers at various loading levels were prepared and characterized. To improve the interactions between fillers and the NBR matrix, ES and CaCO{sub 3} were surface-functionalized using a terpolymer, namely poly(vinyl 2-pyrrolidone-co-maleic acid-co-acrylic acid). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize the modified fillers. The incorporation of the functionalized fillers resulted in a significant rise in the maximum torque according to the rheometric measurements. The Young’s modulus of the ES-based and CaCO{sub 3}-based compounds showed a mild improvement over a wide range of filler contents. The elongation at break of the NBR composites, however, was dependent on the filler content. This work provides exciting opportunities for the design of novel and innovative coupling agents to be used in rubber applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermal, Rheological and Mechanical Properties of PETG/rPETG Blends

This paper presents the reuse process of post-consumer printed foils made of glycol-modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PETG). Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and a scanning electron microscope confirmed that these foils consist of PETG and PS layers. Firstly, foil pieces were immersed in the organic solution to remove all prints and after washing and drying they were extruded into regranulate rPETG pellets. Three types of PETG/rPETG blends were fabricated with the addition of 10, 20 and 30 wt% of virgin PETG. Microscopic analysis of the blends confirmed their homogeneity, as was also shown by the fact that there was only one glass transition peak in the heating curve given by differential scanning calorimetry. Moreover, in the presence of fresh PETG the degradation temperatures of rPETG improved significantly, and the viscosity of all blends was reduced as a result of shortened macromolecule chains in rPETG. Mechanical analysis of the materials showed that all blends have comparable tensile strength and a Young’s modulus that is higher than rPETG but lower than virgin PETG. Elongation at break decreases together with the content of rPETG.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

N-Silylated Benzothiazolium Dye as a Coupling Agent for Polylactic Acid/Date Palm Fiber Bio-composites

This work proposes a benzothiazole derivative bearing a silane moiety as a new coupling agent for polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced by date palm fibers (DPFs). The bio-composites are prepared by solution blending followed by melt compounding. From the samples produced, a complete characterization is performed including morphological, mechanical and thermal properties as a function of fiber content. The results show that the proposed fiber treatment is an easy and effective method to improve the interfacial properties and fiber dispersion leading to better material performance. For example, the addition of only 1 wt% of the dye–IPTMS to the bleached DPF not only improved the thermal stability of the biocomposites, but also led to a significant increase of the Young’s modulus at 7 wt% and higher torsion modulus up to 5 wt% (optimum value).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Structural, Elastic, and Electronic Properties of CeN and LuN Using: Ab Initio Study

We report on the electronic, structural, and elastic property calculations conducted for the rare-earth (RE) nitride compounds in the rocksalt structure (CeN and LuN compounds) using the full-potential linear muffin-tin orbital method (FP-LMTO) based on the spin density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the LSDA + U approach (local spin density approximation with Hubbard-U corrections). The LSDA + U approximation is applied to the 4f as well as 5d states. Various space groups were considered including the NaCl (Fm-3m (225)), the cesium chloride [CsCl(Pm-3m (221))], and the zinc blende [ZnS(F-43m 216))]. Our obtained results indicate that the NaCl-type structure is stable than all the other phases, while the predicted elastic constants were found to satisfy the mechanical stability. The related mechanical properties such as the anisotropy factor (A), Poisson’s ratio (υ), Young’s modulus (E), and the shear modulus (G) for the same NaCl structure were also calculated. Finally, the band structure calculations of the CeN and LuN have revealed half-metallic and semiconductor behaviour, respectively. The obtained results are presented and in-depth discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Insight into Phase Transition, Electronic, Magnetic, Mechanical, and Thermodynamic Properties of TbTe: a DFT Investigation

Theoretical investigation on TbTe for its structural, electronic, magnetic, and thermodynamic stuffs has been carried within density functional theory (DFT) as implemented in WIEN2K code. TbTe was found stable in ferromagnetic phase. The calculated ground-state parameters were found in a good agreement with the experimental data. The compound was found to have a structural stability in cubic B1 (NaCl-type structure) phase, but under the application of high pressure (at 27 GPa), it undergone to B2 (CsCl-type structure) phase of pressure. The second-order elastic constants and mechanical properties like Young’s modulus, Shear modulus, Poisson ratio, Cauchy pressure (C{sub 12}–C{sub 44}), and Pugh’s ratio (B/G) were calculated. The present calculations confirmed the ductile nature of TbTe. Further, the thermodynamic investigations have been carried using quasi-harmonic Debye approximation. We have calculated the pressure and temperature dependence of Debye temperature (𝜃{sub D}), bulk modulus (B), thermal expansion (α), heat capacities (C{sub V}), and entropy (S) in the temperature range of 0 to 1000 K and pressure range of 0 to 25 GPa.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Compatibility of mesophase pitch and linear low-density polyethylene for low-cost carbon fiber

Mesophase pitch and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) were blended by shear mixing and extruded producing precursor fibers which were then converted to carbon fibers (CFs). LLDPE additives agglomerate within the isotropic spheres rather than uniformly dispersing throughout the entire matrix. The blends possess different thermal properties and precursor tensile properties evident by two-phase tensile stress nature not present in precursor fibers produced from pure pitch. The resultant CFs were oxidized at 280 °C for 4 h and carbonized at 1000 °C for 15 min. This process created pitch CFs with a tensile strength of 1.23 GPa and a Young’s modulus of 99 GPa. All CFs produced from blends of pitch and LLDPE possessed a tensile strength of 0.63 GPa and less. These CFs showed a microstructure slightly different from the pure pitch CFs with fractured CF cross sections revealing voids present in all blended CFs due to burnt off LLDPE stemming from carbonization. Further study into compatibilizers and new conversion processes is required to successfully blend LLDPE with mesophase pitch for the purpose of producing a new low-cost CF.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Tensile, Creep, and Fatigue Behaviors of 3D-Printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is a widely used thermoplastics in 3D printing. However, there is a lack of thorough investigation of the mechanical properties of 3D-printed ABS components, including orientation-dependent tensile strength and creep fatigue properties. In this work, a systematic characterization is conducted on the mechanical properties of 3D-printed ABS components. Specifically, the effect of printing orientation on the tensile and creep properties is investigated. The results show that, in tensile tests, the 0° printing orientation has the highest Young’s modulus of 1.81 GPa, and ultimate strength of 224 MPa. In the creep test, the 90° printing orientation has the lowest k value of 0.2 in the plastics creep model, suggesting 90° is the most creep resistant direction. In the fatigue test, the average cycle number under load of 30 N is 3796 cycles. The average cycle number decreases to 128 cycles when the load is 60 N. Using the Paris law, with an estimated crack size of 0.75 mm, and stress intensity factor is varied from 352 to 700 N√m, the derived fatigue crack growth rate is 0.0341 mm/cycle. This study provides important mechanical property data that is useful for applying 3D-printed ABS in engineering applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Adhesive and Cohesive Strength in FeB/Fe{sub 2}B Systems

In this work, FeB/Fe{sub 2}B systems were evaluated by the scratch test. The powder-pack boriding process was performed on the surface of AISI M2 steel. The mechanical parameters, such as yield stress and Young’s modulus of the boride layer, were obtained by the instrumented indentation technique. Residual stresses produced on the boride layer were estimated by using the x-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The scratch test was performed in order to evaluate the cohesive/adhesive strength of the FeB/Fe{sub 2}B coating. In addition, a numerical evaluation of the scratch test on boride layers was performed by the finite element method. Maximum principal stresses were related to the failure mechanisms observed by the experimental scratch test. Shear stresses at the interfaces of the FeB/Fe{sub 2}B/substrate system were also evaluated. Finally, the results obtained provide essential information about the effect of the layer thickness, the residual stresses, and the resilience modulus on the cohesive/adhesive strength in FeB/Fe{sub 2}B systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Static and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Graphene Oxide-Incorporated Woven Carbon Fiber/Epoxy Composite

This study investigates the synergistic effects of graphene oxide (GO) on the woven carbon fiber (CF)-reinforced epoxy composites. The GO nanofiller was incorporated into the epoxy resin with variations in the content, and the CF/epoxy composites were manufactured using a vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process and then cured at 70 and 120 °C. An analysis of the mechanical properties of the GO (0.2 wt.%)/CF/epoxy composites showed an improvement in the tensile strength, Young’s modulus, toughness, flexural strength and flexural modulus by ~ 34, 20, 83, 55 and 31%, respectively, when compared to the CF/epoxy composite. The dynamic mechanical analysis of the composites exhibited an enhancement of ~ 56, 114 and 22% in the storage modulus, loss modulus and damping capacity (tanδ), respectively, at its glass transition temperature. The fiber–matrix interaction was studied using a Cole–Cole plot analysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗