scholarly journals Effects of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Cellulose Nanofibers on the Structure and Properties of Polyhydroxybutyrate Nanocomposites

Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2063 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobo Zhang ◽  
Chongxing Huang ◽  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Cheng Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cellulose Nanocrystals ◽  
Cellulose Nanofibers ◽  
Simple Approach ◽  
Nucleating Agents ◽  
Structure And Properties ◽  
Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Biocompatible Polymer ◽  
Commercial Applications ◽  
Toughening Modification

One of the major obstacles for polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer, in commercial applications is its poor elongation at break (~3%). In this study, the effects of nanocellulose contents and their types, including cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) on the crystallization, thermal, and mechanical properties of PHB composites were systematically compared. We explored the toughening mechanisms of PHB by adding CNCs and cellulose CNFs. The results showed that when the morphology of bagasse nanocellulose was rod-like and its content was 1 wt %, the toughening modification of PHB was the best. Compared with pure PHB, the elongation at break and Young’s modulus increased by 91.2% and 18.4%, respectively. Cellulose nanocrystals worked as heterogeneous nucleating agents in PHB and hence reduced its crystallinity and consequently improved the toughness of PHB. This simple approach could potentially be explored as a strategy to extend the possible applications of this biopolymer in packaging fields.

scholarly journals Effect of Organic Modifier Types on the Physical–Mechanical Properties and Overall Migration of Post-Consumer Polypropylene/Clay Nanocomposites for Food Packaging

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1502
Author(s):  
Eliezer Velásquez ◽  
Sebastián Espinoza ◽  
Ximena Valenzuela ◽  
Luan Garrido ◽  
María José Galotto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Clay Nanocomposites ◽  
Organic Modifier ◽  
Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Chemical Safety ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Fatty Food ◽  
Recycled Plastics ◽  
Thermal Stability Of

The deterioration of the physical–mechanical properties and loss of the chemical safety of plastics after consumption are topics of concern for food packaging applications. Incorporating nanoclays is an alternative to improve the performance of recycled plastics. However, properties and overall migration from polymer/clay nanocomposites to food require to be evaluated case-by-case. This work aimed to investigate the effect of organic modifier types of clays on the structural, thermal and mechanical properties and the overall migration of nanocomposites based on 50/50 virgin and recycled post-consumer polypropylene blend (VPP/RPP) and organoclays for food packaging applications. The clay with the most hydrophobic organic modifier caused higher thermal stability of the nanocomposites and greater intercalation of polypropylene between clay mineral layers but increased the overall migration to a fatty food simulant. This migration value was higher from the 50/50 VPP/RPP film than from VPP. Nonetheless, clays reduced the migration and even more when the clay had greater hydrophilicity because of lower interactions between the nanocomposite and the fatty simulant. Conversely, nanocomposites and VPP/RPP control films exhibited low migration values in the acid and non-acid food simulants. Regarding tensile parameters, elongation at break values of PP film significantly increased with RPP addition, but the incorporation of organoclays reduced its ductility to values closer to the VPP.

Effects of walnut shell powders on the morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of poly(lactic acid)

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (10) ◽  
pp. 1383-1395
Author(s):  
Hongjuan Zheng ◽  
Zhengqian Sun ◽  
Hongjuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Property Testing ◽  
Walnut Shell ◽  
Poly Lactic Acid ◽  
Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Scanning Calorimetry ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Heat Distortion Temperature ◽  
Testing Techniques

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) has good environmental compatibility, however, its high brittleness, slow rate of crystallization, and low heat distortion temperature restrict its widespread use. To overcome these limitations, in this study, PLA was mixed with walnut shell (WS) powders. The effects of WS powders on the morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA were investigated. The products were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and various mechanical property testing techniques. The results showed that WS powders had a significant effect on the morphology and the thermal and mechanical properties of PLA. The tensile strength, impact strength, and elongation at break of the PLA/WS composites first increased and then decreased with the increasing addition of WS powders. When the addition of WS powders was about 0.5 wt%, they reached maximum values of 51.2 MPa, 23.3 MPa, and 19.0%, respectively. Compared with neat PLA, the spherulite grain size of the composites could be reduced and many irregular polygons were formed during crystallization. The melting, cold crystallization, and glass-transition temperatures of the composites were lower than those of neat PLA.

scholarly journals Three-Dimensional Stable Alginate-Nanocellulose Gels for Biomedical Applications: Towards Tunable Mechanical Properties and Cell Growing

Nanomaterials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscila Siqueira ◽  
Éder Siqueira ◽  
Ana Elza De Lima ◽  
Gilberto Siqueira ◽  
Ana Delia Pinzón-Garcia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Wound Healing ◽  
Cellulose Nanocrystals ◽  
Biomedical Applications ◽  
Cellulose Nanofibers ◽  
Oxidized Cellulose ◽  
Freeze Dried ◽  
Alginate Gels

Hydrogels have been studied as promising materials in different biomedical applications such as cell culture in tissue engineering or in wound healing. In this work, we synthesized different nanocellulose-alginate hydrogels containing cellulose nanocrystals, TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanocrystals (CNCTs), cellulose nanofibers or TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (CNFTs). The hydrogels were freeze-dried and named as gels. The nanocelluloses and the gels were characterized by different techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), while the biological features were characterized by cytotoxicity and cell growth assays. The addition of CNCTs or CNFTs in alginate gels contributed to the formation of porous structure (diameter of pores in the range between 40 and 150 μm). TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers have proven to play a crucial role in improving the dimensional stability of the samples when compared to the pure alginate gels, mainly after a thermal post-treatment of these gels containing 50 wt % of CNFT, which significantly increased the Ca2+ crosslinking density in the gel structure. The morphological characteristics, the mechanical properties, and the non-cytotoxic behavior of the CNFT-alginate gels improved bioadhesion, growth, and proliferation of the cells onto the gels. Thus, the alginate-nanocellulose gels might find applications in tissue engineering field, as for instance, in tissue repair or wound healing applications.

Effect of Co60γ Ray Irradiation on Thermoplastic Corn Starch Plastic

2013 ◽  
Vol 772 ◽  
pp. 34-37
Author(s):  
Hao Tang ◽  
Hai Tian Jiang ◽  
Bin Guo ◽  
Pan Xin Li
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Tensile Strength ◽  
Corn Starch ◽  
Irradiation Time ◽  
Thermoplastic Starch ◽  
Endothermic Peak ◽  
Macromolecular Structure ◽  
Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Γ Ray

Corn starch was irradiated by 60Coγ ray, and then the thermoplastic starch plastic (TPS) was prepared by adding glycerol. Microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of the corn starch and starch plastic were studied in details by FTIR, DSC and SEM. Results showed that the starch macromolecular structure was damaged by irradiation, and with increased irradiation time, the temperature of melt endothermic peak and tensile strength decreased, elongation at break increases for starch plastic, the thermoplastic property of starch was enhanced obviously.

Simple approach to reinforce hydrogels with cellulose nanocrystals

Nanoscale ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 5934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Yang ◽  
Chun-rui Han ◽  
Feng Xu ◽  
Run-cang Sun
Keyword(s):  
Cellulose Nanocrystals ◽  
Simple Approach

Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Corn Stalk Microcrystalline Cellulose Reinforced PLA Composites

2011 ◽  
Vol 233-235 ◽  
pp. 1726-1729
Author(s):  
Chun Guang Li ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Yun Xia Li ◽  
Peng Fei Xu ◽  
Yan Qiu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Properties ◽  
Tensile Properties ◽  
Microcrystalline Cellulose ◽  
Composite Films ◽  
Decomposition Temperature ◽  
Corn Stalk ◽  
Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽  
Initial Decomposition Temperature ◽  
Elongation At Break ◽  
Biodegradable Composite

The biodegradable composite films were prepared from corn stalk microcrystalline cellulose as filler and polylactic acid (PLA) as polymeric matrix. The crystallinity, the tensile properties and the thermal properties of the composites were tested. The results show that the tensile properties and thermal properties were improved with the addition of corn stalk microcrystalline cellulose. When corn stalk microcrystalline cellulose account for 10% of the PLA quality, the initial decomposition temperature was raised by 34.38, tensile strength increased by 58.3% and elongation at break increased by 31.1% compared to those of pure PLA.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document