Rajendran Muthuraj, Abhishek Sachan, Mickael Castro*, Jean-François Feller, Bastien Seantier*, Yves Grohens

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 277-287, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634182

Abstract In this work, thermally insulating and electrically conductive aerogels were prepared from cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by environmentally friendly freeze-drying process. The thermal conductivity of neat CNF aerogel is 24 mW/(m·K) with a density of 0.025 g/cm3. With the addition of CNTs into CNF aerogel, the electrical conductivity was significantly increased while the thermal conductivity was increased to 38 mW/(m·K). Due to these interesting properties, the Seebeck coefficient and the figure of merit (ZT) of the CNF/CNTs aerogels were measured and showed that CNF/CNTs aerogel thermoelectric properties can be improved. The compressibility and electrical resistance of the… More >

TK. N. Tran^1,2, A. Guyomard-Lack³, C. Cerclier³, B. Humbert³, G. Colomines¹, J-F. Pilard², R. Deterre¹, J. Le Bideau^3,*, E. Leroy^4,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 251-258, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634174

Abstract Natural rubber (NR), besides being an abundant renewable resource for the elastomer industry, can be a potential resource for the design of innovative biobased polymer networks. The present work is based on "telechelic" liquid natural rubber oligomers obtained by controlled chemical degradation of NR. The chain ends of such oligomers can then be functionalized (with acrylate functions in the present case) and reacted with multifunctional crosslinkers in order to form networks. What's more, the initial solubility of such thermosetting system in an ionic liquid (IL) can be used for the formulation of ionogels. Such solid networks typically containing 80% of… More >

Swarnalata Sahoo^1,2*, Hemjyoti Kalita¹, Smita Mohanty^1,2, Sanjay Kumar Nayak^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.1, pp. 117-125, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634155

Abstract In the current work, we have synthesized vegetable oil-based polyurethane-OMMT clay nanocomposite (PUNC) adhesive with the incorporation of different wt% of organically modified nanoclay (1 to 5 wt%) into the biobased polyurethane (PU) matrix through in-situ polymerization process via ultrasonication method. At the initial stage, PU adhesive was prepared using polyol and partially biobased aliphatic isocyanate, wherein polyol was derived from the transesterified castor oil using ethylene glycol. The formation of PU and PUNC adhesive was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. The tensile strength of PU with different wt% of nanoclay was determined and the analysis showed… More >

Poonam Trivedi¹, Jens Schaller², Jan Gustafsson¹, Pedro Fardim^1,3*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.5, pp. 400-409, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634143

Abstract In the present study, we report the supramolecular design of cellulose-sulfonate hydrogel beads by blending water soluble sodium cellulose ethyl sulfonate (CES) with the pretreated cellulose in sodium hydroxide-ureawater solvent system at −6 °C followed by coagulation in the 2M sulfuric acid system. The increasing of CES amount from 10% to 90% had a substantial effect on the viscosity and storage (G′) and loss (G″) moduli of the blended solutions. The CES concentration up to 50% in blends led to the formation of physically stable hydrogels after coagulation in acidic medium at pH-1 and showed the retention of nearly the… More >

Bożena Tyliszczak¹, Anna Drabczyk^2*, Sonia Kudłacik², Agnieszka Sobczak-Kupiec²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.3-4, pp. 174-179, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634107

Abstract In this study a series of hydrogels based on Beetosan® and containing natural substances, such as bee pollen and sage (Salvia officinalis), have been prepared. Beetosan is a type of chitosan that is obtained from the external skeletons of naturally occurring dead honeybees. In multistage chemical treatment, dead insect waste is converted into chitosan that is used in research as a hydrogel matrix. Prepared materials were synthesized using photopolymerization. Studies on the obtained hydrogels included determining their swelling ability and behavior in a simulated body fluid environment, as well as determining their chemical structure by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).… More >

Purnendu, Soumitra Satapathi^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.2, pp. 96-102, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634134

Abstract Graphene-based 3D porous xerogel was designed through molecular self-assembly of graphene oxide on chitosan matrix and its application in removal of different heavy metal ions from wastewater was investigated. The synthesized xerogel was characterized through FTIR, SEM, XRD and BET surface area analysis. Heavy metal ions, including Pb(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II), were removed from wastewater using this graphene-chitosan (GO-Cs) xerogel and the removal efficiency was monitored through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The effect of GO-Cs composition and pH on adsorption efficiency as well as the kinetics of adsorption was studied in detail. The study exhibited that this xerogel… More >

Mercedes Echegaray¹, Gurutz Mondragon¹, Loli Martin², Alba González³, Cristina Peña-Rodriguez¹, Aitor Arbelaiz^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.3, pp. 206-214, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634106

Abstract Organic rodlike cellulose nanocrystals extracted from sisal fibers and inorganic montmorillonite based on silicate layers were employed to develop bionanocomposites based on gelatin matrix. Bionanocomposites with cellulose nanocrystal, montmorillonite and both nanoreinforcements combined were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Tensile properties and oxygen and water vapor gas permeability values were determined to study the influence of the addition of nanoreinforcements, different in nature, to gelatin matrix. Bionanocomposites with montmorillonite improved tensile strength but systems reinforced with nanocellulose showed lower tensile strength than neat gelatin ones. Oxygen gas permeability values decreased for all bionanocomposites,… More >

Szczepan Bednarz^*, Angelika Wesołowska, Magdalena Trątnowiecka, Dariusz Bogdał

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.1, pp. 18-23, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634131

Abstract New methods of preparation of crosslinked polymers from itaconic acid as a renewable monomer have been explored. Synthesis of hydrogels and xerogels from the acid in deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are described and some basic properties of the materials are reported. Most importantly, a surfactant-free method of creation of macroporous poly(itaconic-co-bisacrylamide) by phase separation polymerization in binary mixture of the DES and poly(ethylene glycol) is demonstrated. More >

Ying Hu^1,2, Qinfei Ke¹, Zhe Li², Wanli Han³, Zhiyong Yan^2,*

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.56, No.3, pp. 517-527, 2018, DOI: 10.3970/cmc.2018.03608

Abstract Cellulose nanofibers were synthesized by acetobacter xylinum (xylinum 1.1812). The cellulose nanofibers with 30-90 nm width constructed three-dimension network gel, which could be used as a wound dressing since it can provide moist environment to a wound. However, cellulose nanofibers have no antimicrobial activity to prevent wound infection. To achieve antimicrobial activity, the cellulose nanofibers can load cuprous oxide (Cu₂O) particles on the surface. The cuprous oxide is a kind of safe antibacterial material. The copper ions can be reduced into cuprous oxides by reducing agents such as glucose, N₂H₄ and sodium hypophosphite. The cellulose nanofibers network gel was soaked… More >

Wei Wei^1,2, Qingsheng Yang^1,3

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.112, No.1, pp. 33-58, 2016, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2016.112.033

Abstract Chemo-mechanical coupling behavior of materials is a transformation process between mechanical and chemical energy. In this paper, based on the coupled chemo-mechanical constitutive equations and governing equations during isothermal process, the equivalent integral forms of chemo-mechanical coupling governing equations and corresponding finite element procedure are obtained by using Hamilton's principle. An isoparametric plane element for chemo-mechanical coupling is associated into ABAQUS finite element package through user element subroutine UEL. The numerical examples exhibit that the ionic concentration variation can cause mechanical deformation and mechanical action can produce redistribution of ionic concentration for hydrogels. It is proved that the present developed… More >