Jorge Neto, Henrique Queiroz, Ricardo Aguiar, Rosemere Lima, Daniel Cavalcanti, Mariana Doina Banea^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 561-589, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.017434 - 28 September 2021

Abstract Natural fiber reinforced polymer composites (NFRCs) have demonstrated great potential for many different applications in various industries due to their advantages compared to synthetic fiber-reinforced composites, such as low environmental impact and low cost. However, one of the drawbacks is that the NFRCs present relatively low mechanical properties and the absorption of humidity due to the hydrophilic characteristic of the natural fibre. One method to increase their performance is hybridization. Therefore, understanding the properties and potential of using multiple reinforcement’s materials to develop hybrid composites is of great interest. This paper provides an overview of… More > Graphic Abstract

Meng Xiang¹, Zhou Yang¹, Jingjing Yang¹, Tong Lu¹, Danqi Wu¹, Zhijun Liu¹, Rongjie Xue¹, Shuang Dong^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.10, No.3, pp. 821-831, 2022, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.017347 - 28 September 2021

Abstract Influenced by recent COVID-19, wearing face masks to block the spread of the epidemic has become the simplest and most effective way. However, after the people wear masks, thousands of tons of medical waste by used disposable masks will be generated every day in the world, causing great pressure on the environment. Herein, conductive polymer composites are fabricated by simple melt blending of mask fragments (mask polypropylene, short for mPP) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). MWNTs were used as modifiers for composites because of their high strength and high conductivity. The crystalline structure, mechanical, electrical… More >

MANIKANDAN.N^1,*, RAJESH.P.K¹

Journal of Polymer Materials, Vol.38, No.3-4, pp. 327-336, 2021, DOI:10.32381/JPM.2021.38.3-4.12

Abstract In this research, a new method to fabricate multi-material, multi-shape changing polymer composites is proposed. The method aims to reduce the number of thermomechanical programming steps involved in achieving shape change in a shape memory polymer (SMP) composite structure by including the programming steps directly into the printing process. After a single step of mechanical deformation and thermal loading, the SMP fibers can be activated sequentially to control the shape change. Composite strip samples were fabricated using a Stratasys Objet 260 multimaterial printer. Two polymer inks VeroPureWhite and Agilus30 were used as primary materials. The… More >

Haina¹, Sagheer Gul^1,*, Muhammad Awais¹, Saira Jabeen², Muhammad Farooq³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.10, pp. 1305-1326, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010037 - 31 August 2020

Abstract This review efficiently covers the research progress in the area of polymer bio composites in perspective of the modern-day renewable materials. In the last decade, attraction towards the bio-composite based systems has been the topic of interest due to their potential as a substitute of conventional materials produced in important manufacturing industries. Recently, preparation of biocompatible and biodegradable polymer composites is an important achievement as an alternative of petrochemical based renewable products. Successful production of eco-friendly bio-composite materials have been achieved with natural fibers viz jute, bamboo, hair, flex, wool, silk and many others instead… More >

Isamar Rosa¹, Henning Roedel¹, Maria I. Allende¹, Michael D. Lepech^1,*, David J. Loftus²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.8, pp. 845-861, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.09844 - 10 July 2020

Abstract Biopolymer-bound Soil Composites (BSC), are a novel bio-based construction material class, produced through the mixture and desiccation of biopolymers with inorganic aggregates with applications in soil stabilization, brick creation and in situ construction on Earth and space. This paper introduces a mixture design methodology to produce maximum strength for a given soil-biopolymer combination. Twenty protein and sand mix designs were investigated, with varying amounts of biopolymer solution and compaction regimes during manufacture. The ultimate compressive strength, density, and shrinkage of BSC samples are reported. It is observed that the compressive strength of BSC materials increases proportional More >

Mariia Stepanova¹, Ilia Averianov¹, Olga Solomakha¹, Natalia Zabolotnykh², Iosif Gofman¹, Mikhail Serdobintsev², Tatiana Vinogradova², Viktor Korzhikov-Vlakh^1,3, Evgenia Korzhikova-Vlakh^1,3,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.4, pp. 383-395, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.09206 - 24 April 2020

Abstract The biocomposite films were prepared from poly(L-lactic acid) and cellulose nanocrystals. To improve interfacial compatibility of hydrophilic cellulose nanocrystals with hydrophobic matrix polymer as well as to provide the osteoconductive properties, cellulose was functionalized with poly(glutamic acid). The modified cellulose nanocrystals were better distributed and less aggregated within the matrix, which was testified by scanning electron, optical and polarized light microscopy. According to mechanical tests, composites filled with nanocrystals modified with PGlu demonstrated higher values of Young’s modulus, elongation at break and tensile strength. Incubation of composite materials in model buffer solutions for 30 weeks More >

Nian Li^*

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring, Vol.13, No.4, pp. 331-346, 2019, DOI:10.32604/sdhm.2019.07521

Abstract The investigation focusing on the mechanical behaviors at the microstructural level in composite materials can provide valuable insight into the failure mechanisms at larger scales. A micromechanics damage model which comprises the coupling of the matrix constitutive model and the cohesive zone (CZM) model at fiber-matrix interfaces is presented to evaluate the transverse tensile damage behaviors of unidirectional (UD) fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. For the polymeric matrix that exhibits highly non-linear mechanical responses, special focus is paid on the formulation of the constitutive model, which characterizes a mixture of elasticity, plasticity as well as damage.… More >

M. Noryani^{1, 3, 5}, S. M. Sapuan^{1, 2,*}, M. T. Mastura^{4, 5}, M. Y. M. Zuhri¹, E. S. Zainudin¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.11, pp. 1165-1179, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.07691 - 14 July 2021

Abstract Material selection has become a critical part of design for engineers, due to availability of diverse choice of materials that have similar properties and meet the product design specification. Implementation of statistical analysis alone makes it difficult to identify the ideal composition of the final composite. An integrated approach between statistical model and micromechanical model is desired. In this paper, resultant natural fibre and polymer matrix from previous study is used to estimate the mechanical properties such as density, Young’s modulus and tensile strength. Four levels of fibre loading are used to compare the optimum More >

A. Ramírez-Jiménez^1*, S. Hernández López¹, E. Bucio², E. Vigueras Santiago¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.2, pp. 132-144, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2016.634138

Abstract Epoxidized linseed oil (ELO) was synthesized and functionalized with propargylamine (PA) or 3-ethynylaniline (EA) and the products were crosslinked to obtain the diacetylene-functionalized epoxidized linseed oil polymers which were used as matrices in the preparation of the composites with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Electrical resistance at percentages between 4 and 20 wt/wt% of filler was measured and the percolation threshold was calculated, obtaining 1.2 and 1.7% for the composites with EA and PA respectively. Low critical concentration evidenced a good dispersion of the MWCNTs without necessity of any modification. The final products were used in More >

L. Rodríguez-Tembleque¹, A. Sáez¹, F.C. Buroni¹

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.96, No.2, pp. 131-158, 2013, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2013.096.131

Abstract A boundary element based formulation is applied to study numerically the tribological behavior of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) under different frictional contact conditions, taking into account the micromechanics of FRP. Micromechanical models presented consider continuous and short fiber reinforced plastics configurations. The Boundary Element Method (BEM) with an explicit approach for fundamental solutions evaluation is considered for computing the elastic influence coefficients. Signorini’s contact conditions and an orthotropic law of friction on the potential contact zone are enforced by contact operators over the augmented Lagrangian. The proposed methodology is applied to study carbon FRP under frictional More >