C. M. Meenakshi, A. Krishnamoorthy^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 153-169, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00046

Abstract Natural fiber-reinforced hybrid composites can be a better replacement for plastic composites since these plastic composites pose a serious threat to the environment. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of surface modification of the natural fibers on the mechanical, thermal, hygrothermal, and water absorption behaviors of flax, sisal, and glass fiber-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites. The mechanical properties of alkaline treated sisal and flax fibers were found to increase considerably.Tensile, flexural and impact strength of glass/flax-fiber-reinforced hybrid samples improved by 58%, 36%, and 51%, respectively, after surface alkaline treatment. In addition, the More >

Nívia do Nascimento Marques¹, Caroline Suzy do Nascimento Garcia¹, Liszt Yeltsin Coutinho Madruga¹, Marcos Antônio Villetti², Men de SáMoreira de Souza Filho³, Edson Noriyuki Ito⁴, Rosangela de Carvalho Balaban^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 139-152, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00040

Abstract After industrial mango processing, tons of residues such as peels and kernels are discarded as waste. Nevertheless, almost 60% of the mango kernel is due to starch on a dry weight basis. Herein, starch from mango (Manguifera Indica L.) kernel was applied to obtain a starch fatty ester with vinyl laurate, in DMSO, under basic catalysis. FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR confirmed that a starch ester with a degree of modification of 2.6 was produced. TGA showed that the modified starch has higher thermal stability than its precursors and higher than a vinyl laurate/starch physical More >

Paula do Patrocínio Dias, Marcelo Aparecido Chinelatto^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.2, pp. 129-138, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00037

Abstract In this study a low molecular weight triblock copolymer derived from ε-caprolactone and tetrahydrofuran was used as a non-reactive compatibilizer of immiscible PLA/PCL blends. Ternary blends with 0, 1.5 wt%, 3 wt% and 5 wt% copolymer and about 75 wt% PLA were prepared by single screw extrusion and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile and Izod impact testing. SEM micrographs showed that the size of the dispersed PCL domains was practically constant regardless of copolymer concentration. This result can be explained by the low shear rate More >

B. Benobeidallah¹, A. Benhamida¹, A. Dorigato^2,*, A. Sola³, M. Messori³, A. Pegoretti²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 89-102, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00136

Abstract Various amounts (up to 10 wt%) of palygorskite nanofibers functionalized by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) coupling agent were used to reinforce polyamide 11 nanocomposites prepared by melt compounding. The covalent bonding of the silane on the palygorskite surface was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. X-ray diffraction revealed the retention of the α-form of polyamide crystals upon the addition of both natural and silane treated palygorskite nanorods. All the investigated nanocomposites showed an improvement of the thermal stability, especially when surface treated palygorskite nanofibers were considered. Tensile tests and dynamic mechanical thermal analyses on the prepared More >

Lu Cui^1,2,*, Xihuai Qiang^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 57-71, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00118

Abstract Based on a novel triazine compound, the properties of tanned leather and commercial feasibility in pilot scale have been investigated. Then this novel approach tanning was compared with conventional chrome tanning: in the condition of less-salt pickling and chrome free, the physicochemical properties including thermal stability and mechanical strength were analyzed. Meanwhile, the surface roughness and fiber dispersion were evaluated as well. The results show that the thermal stability and mechanical strength of the triazine compound tanned leather are similar to conventional chrome tanned leather, the fiber bundle is well-dispersed and much evener than that More >

Yang Yu¹, Ramiz Boy^1,2,*, Richard Kotek¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 41-55, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00105

Abstract Current industrial methods for dissolution of cellulose in making regenerated cellulose products are relatively expensive, toxic and dangerous and have environmental problems coming with the hazard chemical wastes. To solve these problems, a novel ethylenediamine and potassium thiocyanate (ED/KSCN) solvent system was developed, that is economical, ecofriendly, and highly efficient. The ED/KSCN solvent system was proven to be a suitable solvent for fabricating cellulose (blended with other polymers) membranes. In this study, gluten was used to develop nonporous membranes with cellulose. The method of casting these membranes provided better ones than the former researchers’ techniques. More >

Azam Sardari^1,2, Ali Asghar Sabbagh Alvani^1,2,3,*, Seyed Reza Ghaffarian^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.1, pp. 31-40, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.00045

Abstract In this study, three sorts of polyols were successfully synthesized from castor oil using a Dean-Stark quick, eco-friendly and high-efficiency method. For this purpose, castor oil was epoxidized in the presence of two types of catalysts including γ-alumina and formic acid, named as ECOAl and ECOF, respectively. Epoxidized castor oils were then characterized by use of hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (H-NMR) and oxirane oxygen content analysis. The relative percentages of conversion double bond to oxirane were obtained 96% and 74% for ECOAl and ECOF, respectively. Ring opening reaction of ECOAl was performed by two types More >

Robert Plant^*, M. Ziad Saghir

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.21, No.1, pp. 18-18, 2019, DOI:10.32604/icces.2019.04980

Abstract Fluids have been used to maintain operational temperatures for machinery for as long as machines have been developed. Over time different mediums have been explored, such as oils and waxes. These different mediums have had varying impacts on the overall system such as improving the heat capacity but at the cost and strain on the system of requiring more pumping power. Some mediums, while they provide an improvement can also damage to the system itself over time with unwanted interactions such corrosion. In this paper we will examine the implementation and suspension into the working… More >

Jinxing Liu

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.21, No.1, pp. 8-8, 2019, DOI:10.32604/icces.2019.04952

Abstract A new method is proposed to simulate progressive failure processes in heterogeneous brittle materials such as concrete, ceramics, rocks etc., by considering the time-dependence of stress redistributions induced by local breakages. Two mechanisms of stress redistribution are incorporated into the proposed model in order to account for the influence of each local breakage on the remaining specimen: (1) One is the immediate release of internal forces in the breaking element, which is assumed to happen within an infinitesimal time when compared with the characteristic time of external loadings. The release of such internal forces is… More >

Albert S. Kobayashi

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.21, No.1, pp. 1-1, 2019, DOI:10.32604/icces.2019.04561

Abstract This presentation will summarize the author’s studies on dynamic fracture based on photomechanics. During the early stage of our studies, dynamic photoelasticity was used to record dynamic crack propagation/arrest and crack branching in Homalite-100 fracture specimens. Dynamic crack arrest was found to be a constant but significantly higher than the ring down static arrest stress intensity factor which varies with the crack initiation condition. A crack branching criterion based on a critical stress intensity factor was also established. Moiré interferometry together with high-speed photography and the generation phase of dynamic finite element analysis were then… More >