Huicheng Xu, Hao Xie, Weidong Shan, Weihong Wang^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.3, pp. 1123-1135, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.023959

Abstract Straw utilization is a key issue related to agricultural production and air pollution control. In this study, a novel extrusion process was proposed to improve the physical and mechanical properties of the straw-reinforced linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) composite. Instead of crushing the straw and mixing it with plastic matrix, the new method mixes straw with plastic matrix in its original form. The intact long rice straws were parallelly spread on the LLDPE film and then rolled up together into a prefabricated roll. The rolls experienced three extrusion processes as follows: (1) twin-screw melting, cooling and crushing, single-screw extruding; (2) twin-screw… More >

Shuangsheng Zhang, Bin Sun, Siyu Li, Xiangyu Lin, Muhua Chen^*, Xu Xu^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.2, pp. 853-865, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.022901

Abstract Hydrogels have been widely applied in agricultural drought-resistance, pollution regulation, drug delivery and so on. Acrylamide (AM) is usually used as raw material to synthesize acrylamide hydrogels. However, inherently low mechanical strength greatly limits their applications in some special areas. Therefore, it is necessary to choose suitable functional monomers to optimize acrylamide hydrogels and improve their mechanical performances. In this paper, a novel acrylamide monomer modified by rosin was synthesized, and then polyacrylamide/rosin-based acrylamide (RAM) composite hydrogels were prepared via free radical polymerization using potassium persulfate as initiator, N, N′-methylene-bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. The influence of RAM monomer was… More > Graphic Abstract

V. K. Srivastava¹, A. Pizzi^2,3,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.2, No.3, pp. 201-206, 2014, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634107

Abstract Fine wood powder/furanic foams were prepared with a strong predominance of the wood component. Low weight and density are important properties of foamed composites. Focusing on preparing light materials, wood foam composites were made using a chemical foaming method and expanded using diethyl ether as the foaming agent. The additives were added to note their effect on the density and mechanical properties, like impact strength and Young’s moduli, of the expanded composites. Various tests and scanning electron microscopy analysis were also performed. The foaming agent resulted in closed cells with varied sizes and more or less regular shapes, and with… More >

Jiabiao Wu, Jiayin Liang, Muyang Chen, Siqi Zheng, Jianying Xu^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.11, pp. 3025-3039, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.019989

Abstract The artificial afforestation of precious Phoebe bournei has been carried out in China. During the cultivation process, thinning wood will be produced. The properties of thinning wood might vary greatly with matured wood and require evaluation for better utilization. The objective of the present study aims to determine the wood structure, fiber morphology, and physical and mechanical properties of the Phoebe bournei thinning wood to help us understand the wood properties and improve its utility value. Three 14-year-old Phoebe bournei were cut from Jindong Forestry Farm of Hunan Province, China. The wood structure and fiber morphology were observed and analyzed… More > Graphic Abstract

Yumei Wang^1,3, Jianzhuang Xiao^1,*, Jintuan Zhang^1,2,4,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.10, pp. 2623-2637, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.019381

Abstract The emission of greenhouse gases from cement production is an obstacle for sustainable development of construction industry. The use of waste materials in constructions instead of cement could be a feasible solution to green construction. Waste marble powder with good cementing property can be used in concrete partially replace cement. In this research, the effects of using waste marble powder on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete have been studied. Three groups of particle size and five levels of replacement ratio (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) for each group have been designed. During the different stage of hydration process,… More >

Xianling Fu^#, Hongliang Ding^#, Xin Wang^*, Lei Song, Yuan Hu^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.9, pp. 2303-2317, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.020759

Abstract Although epoxy resin has been widely used in various fields, it still suffers from some problems including brittleness and flammability. In this study, a new phosphonic acid, N, N-bis(phosphomethyl) glycine (GDMP), was prepared by Mannich reaction with bio-based glycine and then a novel layered zirconium phosphonate (ZrGDMP) was synthesized using GDMP and zirconyl chloride hydrate as reactants. The chemical structure of ZrGDMP was well characterized by ¹H and ³¹P NMR, SEM, XRD and XPS. The effect of ZrGDMP on the flame retardancy, smoke suppression, strengthening and toughening performances of the epoxy matrix was investigated and evaluated. TGA results indicated that… More > Graphic Abstract

Xue Xin^1,#, Yu Rong^1,#, Linping Su¹, Zhengmei Qiu¹, Chenjun Yang¹, Ming Liang^1,*, Ping Ji², Guoqiang Zhong³, Zhanyong Yao^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.4, pp. 1081-1095, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.018021

Abstract As the important matrix material, epoxy resin has been widely used in the composites for various fields. On account of the poor toughness of epoxy resin limiting their suitability for advanced applications, considerable interests have been conducted to modify the epoxy resin to meet the engineering requirements. In this study, the bio-based polyurethane (PU) modified resin was adopted to modify the pure bisphenol-A epoxy by blending method with various proportions. Aiming to illuminate the curing behavior, mechanical and thermal properties, the blended epoxy systems were characterized by viscosity-time analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) at different frequencies and temperatures, mechanical tensile… More >

Daiyuan Zhang¹, Qian He², Baocong Du², Junbao Yu^2,3, Xudong Zhu³, Dingyi Yang², Shengcai Li², Tianyi Zhan¹, Liming Shen^1,*, Zhiqiang Wang^1,*, Xiaoning Lu¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 721-734, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.016793

Abstract Permeability of wood preservative is one of the most significant factors for protection of wood construction. Anisotropic flow permeability was involved in different directions of wood with higher flow resistance in the transverse and lower longitudinal directions. In this study, boron acid solution was brushed onto the tangential section of air-dried wood cubes and boron penetration along wood transverse direction was investigated under free diffusion, vacuum and HVEF treatments. Multi-scale boron distribution, FTIR measurement, leaching property, mechanical properties and fungistatic characteristic were investigated for free diffusion, vacuum and HVEF treated samples respectively. The results revealed that boron exhibited high permeability… More >

Yousef Y. Sewar¹, Zhancheng Zhang¹, Xinmiao Meng^1,*, Mohammed Y. Wahan¹, Hanxiao Qi^1,2, Qahtan M. Al-Shami^1,3, Shijiao Luo¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.1, pp. 219-235, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.016013

Abstract Engineered bamboo has recently received lots of attention of civil engineers and professional researchers due to its better mechanical performance than that of softwood timber. Parallel strand bamboo is one important part of engineered bamboo for its excellent durable performance compared to the laminated veneer bamboo. The required curing temperature in hot-pressing process is usually higher than 120°C to reduce the content of nutritional ingredients and hemy cellulose, and to avoid the decay from the environment and insects. Nonetheless, the appearance of engineered bamboo gets darker with the increase of temperature during the hot-pressing process. In order to minimize the… More > Graphic Abstract

Xi Chen^1,2, Ying Li^1,2,*, Hualei Bai^1,2, Liyuan Ma^1,2

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.12, pp. 2189-2208, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015394

Abstract Recycled concrete powder (RCP) is used more and more in cement-based materials, but its influence on the hydration process is still unclear. Therefore, this paper studied the influence of recycled concrete powder (RCP) on the hydration process of cement and provides a theoretical basis for the hydration mechanism of cement composite materials. The hydration heat method was used to systematically analyze the thermal evolution process of cement paste with or without RCP. Hydration products were identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal analysis (TG–DSC). The pore structure change of cement pastes was analyzed by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) method. The… More > Graphic Abstract