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 >

RUBY AHMED¹, MOHAMMAD OMAISH ANSARI², FARMAN ALI¹, SHAHID PERVEZ ANSARI^1,*

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.3, pp. 243-251, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.03.4

Abstract Polyaniline (PANI) and molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂ ) were used to prepare nanocomposites by in-situ oxidative polymerization of acidified aniline in presence of dispersed MoS₂ in the reaction mixture. Electron Microscopy (SEM & TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize these nanocomposites. SEM micrographs showed that PANI is present on the layers of MoS₂ which were exfoliated during the preparation and the presence of MoS₂ is also confirmed by XRD peaks. The nanocomposites were studied for their electrical conductivity and stability of electrical conductivity in terms of d.c. More >

KAVITA^*, R.K. TIWARI

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.36, No.2, pp. 195-205, 2019, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2019.36.02.7

Abstract The effect of poly (vinyl butyral) and acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT) on the thermal and mechanical performance of Kevlar fiber reinforced novolac epoxy nanocomposites was investigated and presented in this paper. Nanocomposite containing 1.5 wt. % poly (vinyl butyral) and 0.5 wt. % f-MWCNT exhibited best thermal and mechanical properties (except flexural strength) among all the nanocomposites reported here. It showed ~5%, 27% and 126 % improvement in tensile strength, young’s modulus and impact strength respectively as compared to the neat novolac epoxy Kevlar composite.Nanocomposite containing 0.5 wt. % f- MWCNT and 2 More >

Narsimha Pandi¹, Shirish H. Sonawane^1,*, Sarang P. Gumfekar², Anand Kishore Kola¹, Pramod H. Borse³, Swapnil B. Ambade⁴, Sripadh Guptha¹, Muthupandian Ashokkumar⁵

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.12, pp. 1279-1293, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07609

Abstract The present study deals with the intensified synthesis of starchpolyaniline (starch-PANI) nanocomposite using an ultrasound-assisted method. Starch is a key component in this nanocomposite, which acts as a backbone of the nucleation of PANI. The Electrochemical property of the nanocomposite arises due to the addition of PANI. This is one of green approach for the synthesis of bio nanocomposite using ultrasound. The crystallinity of the composite is evaluated using the Scherrer Formula. The starch-PANI nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, Raman, XPS and TEM. The composite nanoparticles show spherical morphology. The elemental composition of starch-PANI More >

Junbo Wang^*, Leiting Dong

The International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, Vol.21, No.4, pp. 75-75, 2019, DOI:10.32604/icces.2019.04820

Abstract In this study, two/three-dimensional computational grains are developed for micromechanical modeling of heterogeneous materials with nanoscale inhomogeneities, considering the interface stress effect. Two types of computational grains are developed, depending on the types of inhomogeneity in each element. Each computational grain can include alternatively a spherical void or a spherical elastic inclusion. In these computational grains, an inter-element compatible displacement field is assumed along the element outer-boundary, and interior displacement fields in the matrix as well as in the inclusion are independently assumed as T-Trefftz trial functions. For planar problems, complex potentials are used to… More >

Kahina Iggui^1,2,*, Mustapha Kaci¹, Mohamed Mahlous³, Nicolas Le Moigne⁴, Anne Bergeret⁴

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.9, pp. 807-820, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.06778

Abstract In this paper, the effects of gamma irradiation on Cast poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and PHBV/Cloisite 30B (C30B) (3 wt%) bionanocomposite prepared by melt compounding, were evaluated at various doses, i.e., 5, 15, 20, 50 and 100 kGy at room temperature in air. Changes in molecular weight, morphology and physical properties were investigated. The study showed that the main degradation mechanism occurring in gamma irradiation in both Cast PHBV and C-PHBV/3C30B bionanocomposite is chain scission, responsible for the decrease of molecular weight. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data indicated a regular decrease in crystallization temperature, melting temperature and… More >

Le Van Hai^1,2, Lindong Zhai¹, Hyun Chan Kim¹, Jung Woong Kim¹, Jaehwan Kim^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.7, pp. 621-629, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.06466

Abstract This paper reports green nanocomposites made by blending polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with cellulose nanofiber (CNF) isolated from recycled deinked copy/printing paper (DIP). The reinforcement effect of DIPCNF in the nanocomposites is compared with other CNFs isolated from native cotton and hardwood by means of TEMPO-oxidation. The prepared PVA-CNF nanocomposites are characterized in terms of morphology, chemical interaction, structural, thermal and mechanical properties. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirm the reinforcing ability of cellulose nanofibers into PVA. By blending CNFs into PVA matrix, the thermal stability of the nanocomposites is improved and DIPCNF shows More >

Marcia Cristina Branciforti^1,*, Caroline Faria Bellani², Carolina Lipparelli Morelli², Alice Ferrand³, Nadia Benkirane-Jessel³, Rosario Elida Suman Bretas²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.3, pp. 269-277, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.01833

Abstract Although nanocomposites have recently attracted special interest in the tissue engineering area, due to their potential to reinforce scaffolds for hard tissues applications, a number of variables must be set prior to any clinical application. This manuscript addresses the evaluation of thermo-mechanical properties and of cell proliferation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) films and their bionanocomposites with 2 wt% of CNC obtained by casting technique. Cellulose nanocrystals extracted from Balsa wood by acid hydrolysis were used as a reinforcing phase in PBAT and PCL matrix films. The films and pure CNC… More >