Ewa Szefer^*, Agnieszka Leszczyńska, Edyta Hebda, Krzysztof Pielichowski

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.6, pp. 1127-1142, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.014584 - 11 March 2021

Abstract The aim of this work was to use cellulose nanocrystals that were obtained by hydrolysis in phosphoric acid solution and further modified with succinic anhydride in the microwave field for PLA reinforcement. A series of all-bionanocomposites containing unmodified and surface modified cellulose nanocrystals with CNC content in the range of 1–3 %_w.t. were obtained by melt blending and tested by XRD, SEM, DSC and DMA to investigate the effect of surface esterification of CNCs on the structure, morphology, dynamic mechanical properties of bionanocomposites, as well as phase transitions of PLA in the presence of cellulosic nanofiller. More > Graphic Abstract

NALINI SHARMA^1,*, AJAY SINGH², RAJ KUMAR DUTTA³

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.37, No.1-2, pp. 1-15, 2020, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2020.37.1-2.1

Abstract Controlled Release fertilizers (CRFs) are new generation agrochemicals which aid in decreasing environmental pollution. In the present study, novel CRF beads are synthesized by the technique of sol-gel polymerization. CMC polymer at various concentrations was used as a matrix and kaolin was used as a binder to enhance mechanical properties of the beads. The study also reveals the incorporation of Kaolin at different concentrations and optimization of the same. Fe3+ was used as a cross-linker to obtain spherical beads. Also, a study was done to optimize the cross linking time and concentration of cross linking… More >

Ling Wang^1,2, Shenglong Jiang², Chenchen Huang², Pengyuan Dai², Fenghua Liu^2,*, Xiaopeng Qi¹, Gaojie Xu²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.11, pp. 1505-1518, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010544 - 28 September 2020

Abstract The paper discusses the mechanical and thermal performance manifested in natural nanorods attapulgite (ATP) reinforced Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) nanocomposites in the process of fused deposition modeling (FDM). Molten extrusion technique was taken to manufacture the filaments of ABS/organic-attapulgite (OAT) nanocomposites with different mass fraction and the printing operation was made by one commercial FDM three-dimensional (3D) printer. Results indicate that the mechanical performance of these FDM 3D printed specimens are improved obviously via the introduction of OAT, and tensile strength of the ABS/OAT nanocomposites parts with only 2 wt% OAT addition is enhanced by More >

Hamidreza Noori¹, Bohayra Mortazavi^{2, 3}, Alessandro Di Pierro⁴, Emad Jomehzadeh⁵, Xiaoying Zhuang^{2, 3}, Zi Goangseup⁶, Kim Sang-Hyun⁷, Timon Rabczuk^{8, 9, *}

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.65, No.3, pp. 2009-2032, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2020.011256 - 16 September 2020

Abstract In modern physics and fabrication technology, simulation of projectile and target collision is vital to improve design in some critical applications, like; bulletproofing and medical applications. Graphene, the most prominent member of two dimensional materials presents ultrahigh tensile strength and stiffness. Moreover, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is one of the most important elastomeric materials with a high extensive application area, ranging from medical, fabric, and interface material. In this work we considered graphene/PDMS structures to explore the bullet resistance of resulting nanocomposites. To this aim, extensive molecular dynamic simulations were carried out to identify the penetration of… More >

Vikas S. Hakke¹, Uday D. Bagale¹, Sami Boufi², G. Uday Bhaskar Babu¹, Shirish H. Sonawane^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 239-250, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.08449 - 01 March 2020

Abstract Starch nanocrystals (SNC) were prepared from maize starch using ultrasound assisted acid hydrolysis. The process takes less time for the generation of SNC, which is advantageous over conventional acid hydrolysis. The synthesized SNC were characterized using X-ray diffraction, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Particle size and TEM data show that the particles were near to 150 nm, with oval morphology. The SNC with higher surface charge are obtained with this innovative approach as compared to conventional acid hydrolysis. Because of high surface charge and oval like morphology, the SNC performed More >

Karima Ben Hamou^1,2,*, Amal Kadimi¹, Remo Merijs Meri³, Sergei Gaidukov³, Hamid Kaddami¹, Mustapha Raihane¹, Mouhamed Lahcini¹, Fouad Erchiqui²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.3, pp. 301-317, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.08141 - 01 March 2020

Abstract This work reports a comprehensive study on poly (Ethylmethacrylateco-Acrylonitrile) Poly(EMA-AN) nanocomposites reinforced with a hybrid mixture of nanoreiforcements based on nanocrystals of cellulose (NCC) (1 or 5% wt) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) (1 or 5% wt). The morphology, thermal and mechanical properties of these nanocomposites were characterized. Homogeneous dispersion of the nanofillers has been shown by scanning electron microscopy. A significant increase of the rubbery modulus and glass transition temperature were obtained upon filler addition, due to the reduction of mobility of the matrix macromolecular chains. On the other hand, compared with the neat Poly(EMAAN), More >

Farzad Ebrahimi¹, Ali Dabbagh², Abbas Rastgoo², Timon Rabczuk^{3, *}

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.63, No.1, pp. 41-64, 2020, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2020.07947 - 30 March 2020

Abstract We propose a multiscale approach to study the influence of carbon nanotubes’ agglomeration on the stability of hybrid nanocomposite plates. The hybrid nanocomposite consists of both macro- and nano-scale reinforcing fibers dispersed in a polymer matrix. The equivalent material properties are calculated by coupling the Eshelby-Mori-Tanaka model with the rule of mixture accounting for effects of CNTs inside the generated clusters. Furthermore, an energy based approach is implemented to obtain the governing equations of the problem utilizing a refined higher-order plate theorem. Subsequently, the derived equations are solved by Galerkin’s analytical method to predict the More >

Brody A. Frost, E. Johan Foster^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.2, pp. 187-203, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.07940 - 01 February 2020

Abstract As the world's population exponentially grows, so does the need for the production of food, with cereal production growing annually from an estimated 1.0 billion to 2.5 billion tons within the last few decades. This rapid growth in food production results in an ever increasing amount of agricultural wastes, of which already occupies nearly 50% of the total landfill area. For example, is the billions of dry tons of cellulose-containing spent coffee grounds disposed in landfills annually. This paper seeks to provide a method for isolating cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from spent coffee grounds, in order… More >

Xiaodong Wang^1,2, Meng Su², Chuntai Liu², Changyu Shen², Xianhu Liu^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.1, pp. 89-99, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.08493 - 01 January 2020

Abstract Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites is prepared by the immersion of PVA/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites in the reducing agent aqueous solution. The PVA/graphene nanocomposites can be used as scaffold after treatment by chemical crosslinking agents. The surface hydrophilicity of the nanocomposite scaffolds decreased with the addition of GO or rGO by measuring the contact angles of scaffolds. The electrical conductivity of PVA/rGO nanocomposite scaffold increased with rGO content increased. The highest conductivity of PVA/rGO nanocomposite scaffolds with 10 wt% rGO could reach to 12.16 × 10⁻³ S/m. The NIH-3T3 fibroblasts attach and grow More >

R. VENKATESAN^*, S. R. DARSON IMMANUEL JOHN, N. RAJESWARI

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 261-273, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.03.6

Abstract Nanocomposite films of chitosan (CH) incorporated with different wt. % of the polyoligomericsilsesquioxane (POSS) were prepared by solution casting. The thermal, mechanical, morphological and antimicrobial properties of the nanocomposites were examined. TGA analyses of the nanocomposites indicate that the filler enables the enhancement of thermal stability of chitosan. The tensile strength of the nanocomposite films is enhanced (10.9 MPa for neat chitosan to 24.0MPa for 5wt. % filled chitosan) by the addition of POSS while the elongation at break is reduced. The nanocomposite films exhibited excellent antimicrobial activity against both gram positive and gram negative More >