Xiaohua Gu, Hongxiang Luo^*, Shiwei Lv, Peng Chen

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.7, pp. 1253-1266, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.014876 - 18 March 2021

Abstract Dramatically increasing waste polyurethane rigid foam (WPRF) draws the attention of the world. A mixture of ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG) is used as glycolysis agents. WPRF was subjected to alcoholysis using different catalysts which are titanium ethylene glycol and potassium hydroxide to obtain recycled polyol, respectively. The effect of a different catalyst on the viscosity and hydroxyl value of recycled polyol is discussed. The regenerated polyurethane (RPU) is performed using the recycled polyol. Infrared spectrum, compressive strength, apparent density, water absorption, scanning electron microscope, and thermogravimetric analysis are carried out to investigate… More >

Jianmin Wu^*, Bingbing Zhang, Chunsheng Wu, Zhiqiang Shu, Shaoqing Li, Jianqi Yang

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.5, pp. 993-1011, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.014304 - 20 February 2021

Abstract In order to improve the utilization of milling materials, save stone resources and reduce milling energy consumption, the aged Styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified asphalt was used as a binder to prepare AC-16 asphalt mixture to simulate old asphalt pavement materials. First, the test and discrete element simulation results of uniaxial compression tests were used to calibrate the parameters of the parallel bonding contact model between asphalt mortar and aggregates. On this basis, a microscopic model of the asphalt mixture was established to simulate the old asphalt pavement. Then, the discrete element software PFC (Particle Flow Code)… More >

Sadaqat Ullah Khan¹, Afzal Ahmed^1,*, Sajjad Ali², Ayesha Ayub², Ahmed Shuja¹, Muhammad Ahsan Shahid¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.5, pp. 1013-1029, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.014344 - 20 February 2021

Abstract Scrapped tires from vehicles are produced in large quantities. Despite numerous existing uses of scrapped tires, a large quantity ends up at the landfill sites, which contributes to environmental degradation. The development of more applications of scrapped tire usage can reduce the disposal of tires at landfill sites. This research proposes a novel use of scrapped tires by using the strips taken from scrapped tires in replacement of steel bars as reinforcement. Manhole covers were produced using scrapped tires by completely replacing the steel with scrapped tires. Four different samples of manhole covers were prepared… More >

Sami Allagui^1,2,*, Abderrahim El Mahi¹, Jean-Luc Rebiere¹, Moez Beyaoui², Anas Bouguecha², Mohamed Haddar²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.4, pp. 695-721, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.013586 - 01 February 2021

Abstract This manuscript deals with the effects of recycling on the static and dynamic properties of flax fibers reinforced thermoplastic composites. The corresponding thermoplastic used in this work is Elium resin. It’s the first liquid thermoplastic resin that allows the production of recycled composite parts with promising mechanical behavior. It appeared on the resin market in 2014. But until now, no studies were available concerning how it can be recycled and reused. For this study, a thermocompression recycling process was investigated and applied to Elium resin. Flax fiber-reinforced Elium composites were produced using a resin infusion… More >

Alexandra Augusta Reichert¹, Mariana Ribas de Sá², Gabriela Escobar Hochmuller da Silva¹, Cesar Augusto Gonçalves Beatrice³, André Ricardo Fajardo⁴, Amanda Dantas de Oliveira^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.10, pp. 1327-1341, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010291 - 31 August 2020

Abstract Nowadays, the production of consumer goods is based on the use of non-renewable raw materials, which in recent years has been performing as a problem for the environment. Considering the large number of available biofibers in nature, their use in the development of polymeric composites has inevitably emerged, it is also necessary to take into account the countless discarded plastics that still have the potential to be reused. In this work, fibers were extracted from pineapple crown residues and utilized to compose sustainable composites using recycled polypropylene from cups discarded in the trash as a… More >

Lixia Gao¹, Sheng Shi^1,2,*, Wensheng Hou¹, Shuhua Wang¹, Zhifeng Yan¹, Chao Ge¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.6, pp. 703-713, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.09055 - 12 May 2020

Abstract In this study, waste cotton fabric was used as cellulose raw material and pretreated in aqueous NaOH/urea solution system to investigate the effect of NaOH/urea pretreatment solution on the hydrolysis of cotton fiber. The cotton fiber was pretreated with different conditions of aqueous NaOH/urea solution, and the pretreated cotton fiber was hydrolyzed under the same conditions as the original cotton fiber. The results of characterization analysis showed that water retention value of pretreated cotton fiber was higher than that of unpretreated sample. Moreover, the cotton fiber presented both a convoluted structure and a coarser surface,… More >

Xing Zhou^1,*, Xin Zhang¹, Dong Wang¹, Changqing Fang^1,*, Wanqing Lei¹, Zhigang Huang², Yonghua Song¹, Xinyu He¹, Yingwei Huang¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.6, pp. 631-645, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010176 - 12 May 2020

Abstract Cellulose plays a key role in abundant organic natural materials meeting the increasing demand for green and biocompatible products. The highly crystalline nanoscale component of cellulose nanocrystals has recently attracted great attention due to the versatile performance as filler or matrix in producing functional materials. In this work, we prepared the waterborne polyurethane via a prepolymer process, and obtained cellulose and cellulose nanocrystals from waste paper via a facile acid hydrolysis process. After that, the cellulose nanocrystals were assembled into film and mixed with polyurethane to prepare flexible polyurethane/cellulose nanocrystals composite membrane with different soaking… More >

Gregory Reimonn¹, Taofeng Lu¹, Neeti Gandhi², Wan-Ting Chen^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.12, pp. 1251-1268, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.08055

Abstract Microplastic pollution represents a side-effect stemming from a global plastic waste mismanagement problem and includes degraded particles or mass produced plastic particles less than 5 mm in largest dimension. The small nature of microplastics gives this area of pollution different environmental concerns than general plastic waste in the environment. The biological toxicity of particles, their internal components, and their surface level changes all present opportunities for these particles to adversely affect the environment around them. Thus, it is necessary to review the current literature surrounding this topic and identify areas where the study of microplastic More >

Fatima Ezzahra El Abbassi^1,*, Mustapha Assarar², Rezak Ayad², Hamid Sabhi², Stephane Buet², Nouzha Lamdouar³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 253-267, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.01759 - 14 July 2021

Abstract This paper aims at studying the effect of recycling on the static and dynamic properties of short alfa fibre reinforced polypropylene. For this purpose, alfa fibres reinforced composites were elaborated by an injection moulding process and were subjected to different mechanical recycling cycles. Then, non-recycled and recycled materials were subjected to static tests and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) to evaluate the effect of recycling on their behaviour. Besides, the effects of alkali and salt water treatments on the static and dynamic properties of the alfa composite were also investigated. The obtained results show that tensile More >

Hynek Beneš, Aleksandra Paruzel*, Jiří Hodan and Olga Trhlíková

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.7, pp. 697-706, 2018, DOI:10.32604/JRM.2018.00011

Abstract In this study, castor oil, rapeseed oil and medium chain triglycerides of coconut oil, were transesterified by means of 2-ethyl-2-hydroxymethyl-1,3-propanediol (trimethylolpropane) and consequently used to convert polycarbonate waste from end-of-life vehicles into liquid polyols. The prepared recycled polyols, composed uniquely of renewable and recycled components, had a hydroxyl number of ca. 250 mg KOH·g−1. They were successfully applied as 100% replacement of a virgin polyol for preparation of solid crosslinked polyurethanes (PU) by solvent-free casting. The produced rigid cast PU exhibited the main transition temperature ranging from 44°C to 53°C, the hardness value from 46 More >