Evaluating the Effects of Different Plasticizers on Mechanical Properties of Starch/ Clay Nanocomposites

2013 ◽  
Vol 829 ◽  
pp. 279-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjan Sherafati ◽  
Seyed Mohammad A. Mousavi ◽  
Zahra Emam-Djomeh ◽  
Reza Bagheri

nanobiocomposites are a new class of hybrid materials composed of nanosized filler (nanofiller) incorporated into a bio-based matrix. Such an association between eco-friendly biopolymers and nanoobjects, with the aim to obtain synergic effects, is one of the most innovating routes to enhance the properties of these bio-matrices. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in Starch as an inexpensive and renewable source has been used as a filler for environmentally friendly plastics for about two decades. However, the poor mechanical properties of starch based biopolymers, leads to use of nanoparticles as reinforcing materials. In the present study, the influence of a combination of a novel plasticizer (formamide) and a traditional plasticizer (glycerol) on the mechanical characteristic of the TPS (thermoplastic starch)-nanoclay compounds has been investigated and the results were compared with thermoplastic starches plasticized by glycerol only. The biodegradable nanocomposites were produced via melt extrusion processing and the samples for mechanical properties were originated by injection molding. The tests performed after two weeks keeping the samples in polyethylene bags. In this study, tensile strength, elongation at break and Young's Modulus were evaluated. Furthermore, the morphologies of samples were studied using a transmission optical microscope. This research showed that using a combination of glycerol and formamide reduce the Young's Modulus and improve the flexibility which can be useful in some applications.

e-Polymers ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahryar Jafari Nejad ◽  
Seyed Javad Ahmadi ◽  
Hossein Abolghasemi ◽  
Ahmad Mohaddespour

AbstractIn this research, the melt blending technique was used to prepare various polypropylene (PP) based nanocomposites. A commercial organoclay (denoted 15A) served as the filler for PP matrix, and the maleic anhydride modified PP was used as compatibilizer. The specimens were subjected to electron beam (EB) irradiation. The purpose of the study focuses on the influences of EB irradiation on the thermal stability and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites. The morphology of the nanocomposites was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The XRD and SEM results showed that these nanocomposites are best described as intercalated systems. PP/Clay nanocomposites showed good thermal stability in the TGA analysis. TGA data at 500KGy showed that the EB irradiation has negative effect on thermal stability of the nanocomposites. Mechanical testing showed that the EB irradiation strongly influences the mechanical properties (tensile strength, Young’s modulus and hardness) of PP/Clay nanocomposites. The value of tensile strength decreases remarkably for all specimens with increasing irradiation dose up to about 550 KGy, but this reduction for nanocomposites with 3% clay is less than that of the pure PP/PP-g-MA blend. In higher irradiation doses, reduction in tensile strength of PP nanocomposites is less than that of the pure PP/PP-g-MA blend. Optimum irradiation dose of Young’s modulus for PP/Clay nanocomposites with 5% clay is 450 KGy. The hardness of the nanocomposites with 5% clay was found to decrease with increase in irradiation dose.


2019 ◽  
Vol 107 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaroslav Čech ◽  
Petr Haušild ◽  
Miroslav Karlík ◽  
Veronika Kadlecová ◽  
Jiří Čapek ◽  
...  

FeAl20Si20 (wt.%) powders prepared by mechanical alloying from different initial feedstock materials (Fe, Al, Si, FeAl27) were investigated in this study. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nanoindentation techniques were used to analyze microstructure, phase composition and mechanical properties (hardness and Young’s modulus). Finite element model was developed to account for the decrease in measured values of mechanical properties of powder particles with increasing penetration depth caused by surrounding soft resin used for embedding powder particles. Progressive homogenization of the powders’ microstructure and an increase of hardness and Young’s modulus with milling time were observed and the time for complete homogenization was estimated.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Salloom ◽  
S. A. Mantri ◽  
R. Banerjee ◽  
S. G. Srinivasan

AbstractFor decades the poor mechanical properties of Ti alloys were attributed to the intrinsic brittleness of the hexagonal ω-phase that has fewer than 5-independent slip systems. We contradict this conventional wisdom by coupling first-principles and cluster expansion calculations with experiments. We show that the elastic properties of the ω-phase can be systematically varied as a function of its composition to enhance both the ductility and strength of the Ti-alloy. Studies with five prototypical β-stabilizer solutes (Nb, Ta, V, Mo, and W) show that increasing β-stabilizer concentration destabilizes the ω-phase, in agreement with experiments. The Young’s modulus of ω-phase also decreased at larger concentration of β-stabilizers. Within the region of ω-phase stability, addition of Nb, Ta, and V (Group-V elements) decreased Young’s modulus more steeply compared to Mo and W (Group-VI elements) additions. The higher values of Young’s modulus of Ti–W and Ti–Mo binaries is related to the stronger stabilization of ω-phase due to the higher number of valence electrons. Density of states (DOS) calculations also revealed a stronger covalent bonding in the ω-phase compared to a metallic bonding in β-phase, and indicate that alloying is a promising route to enhance the ω-phase’s ductility. Overall, the mechanical properties of ω-phase predicted by our calculations agree well with the available experiments. Importantly, our study reveals that ω precipitates are not intrinsically embrittling and detrimental, and that we can create Ti-alloys with both good ductility and strength by tailoring ω precipitates' composition instead of completely eliminating them.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3467
Author(s):  
Anna Nocivin ◽  
Doina Raducanu ◽  
Bogdan Vasile ◽  
Corneliu Trisca-Rusu ◽  
Elisabeta Mirela Cojocaru ◽  
...  

The present paper analyzed the microstructural characteristics and the mechanical properties of a Ti–Nb–Zr–Fe–O alloy of β-Ti type obtained by combining severe plastic deformation (SPD), for which the total reduction was of etot = 90%, with two variants of super-transus solution treatment (ST). The objective was to obtain a low Young’s modulus with sufficient high strength in purpose to use the alloy as a biomaterial for orthopedic implants. The microstructure analysis was conducted through X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) investigations. The analyzed mechanical properties reveal promising values for yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of about 770 and 1100 MPa, respectively, with a low value of Young’s modulus of about 48–49 GPa. The conclusion is that satisfactory mechanical properties for this type of alloy can be obtained if considering a proper combination of SPD + ST parameters and a suitable content of β-stabilizing alloying elements, especially the Zr/Nb ratio.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Konrad Kosiba ◽  
Konda Gokuldoss Prashanth ◽  
Sergio Scudino

The phase and microstructure formation as well as mechanical properties of the rapidly solidified Mg67Ag33 (at. %) alloy were investigated. Owing to kinetic constraints effective during rapid cooling, the formation of equilibrium phases is suppressed. Instead, the microstructure is mainly composed of oversaturated hexagonal closest packed Mg-based dendrites surrounded by a mixture of phases, as probed by X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. A possible non-equilibrium phase diagram is suggested. Mainly because of the fine-grained dendritic and interdendritic microstructure, the material shows appreciable mechanical properties, such as a compressive yield strength and Young’s modulus of 245 ± 5 MPa and 63 ± 2 GPa, respectively. Due to this low Young’s modulus, the Mg67Ag33 alloy has potential for usage as biomaterial and challenges ahead, such as biomechanical compatibility, biodegradability and antibacterial properties are outlined.


Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 529
Author(s):  
Chunzhi Du ◽  
Zhifan Li ◽  
Bingfei Liu

Nanoporous Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) are widely used in aerospace, military industry, medical and health and other fields. More and more attention has been paid to its mechanical properties. In particular, when the size of the pores is reduced to the nanometer level, the effect of the surface effect of the nanoporous material on the mechanical properties of the SMA will increase sharply, and the residual strain of the SMA material will change with the nanoporosity. In this work, the expression of Young’s modulus of nanopore SMA considering surface effects is first derived, which is a function of nanoporosity and nanopore size. Based on the obtained Young’s modulus, a constitutive model of nanoporous SMA considering residual strain is established. Then, the stress–strain curve of dense SMA based on the new constitutive model is drawn by numerical method. The results are in good agreement with the simulation results in the published literature. Finally, the stress-strain curves of SMA with different nanoporosities are drawn, and it is concluded that the Young’s modulus and strength limit decrease with the increase of nanoporosity.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26
Author(s):  
Myrtha Karina ◽  
Lucia Indrarti ◽  
Rike Yudianti ◽  
Indriyati

The effect of castor oil on the physical and mechanical properties of bacterial cellulose is described. Bacterial cellulose (BC) was impregnated with 0.5–2% (w/v) castor oil (CO) in acetone–water, providing BCCO films. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the castor oil penetrated the pores of the bacterial cellulose, resulting in a smoother morphology and enhanced hydrophilicity. Castor oil caused a slight change in crystallinity indices and resulted in reduced tensile strength and Young's modulus but increased elongation at break. A significant reduction in tensile strength and Young's modulus was achieved in BCCO films with 2% castor oil, and there was an improvement in elongation at break and hydrophilicity. Impregnation with castor oil, a biodegradable and safe plasticiser, resulted in less rigid and more ductile composites.


1993 ◽  
Vol 308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Bec ◽  
André Tonck ◽  
Jean-Luc Loubet

ABSTRACTPyrolysis of polymer precursors (polysilazane) is a technologically and economically interesting way to produce thin ceramic coatings. However, many cracks appear and decohesion occurs during pyrolysis when the ceramic coatings (SiOCN) are thicker than 0.5 micrometers. In order to understand these cracking phenomena, the coatings are mechanically characterized by nanoindentation at different stages of the pyrolysis heat treatment.During pyrolysis, the cracking temperature is detected by in-situ optical observation. The thickness of the coatings varies during pyrolysis from 3 micrometers at the polymeric state to 1 micrometer at the ceramic state. The coatings' properties, hardness and Young's modulus are evaluated after heat treatment, taking into account the substrate's influence. A large variation of these properties occurs at the cracking temperature. Both the hardness and the Young's modulus are multiplied by a factor of 10. By analysing these results, we show that cracking is correlated with the evolution of the coatings' mechanical properties during the transformation.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3127
Author(s):  
Feng Dai ◽  
Dandan Zhao ◽  
Lin Zhang

The effect of vacancy defects on the structure and mechanical properties of semiconductor silicon materials is of great significance to the development of novel microelectronic materials and the processes of semiconductor sensors. In this paper, molecular dynamics is used to simulate the atomic packing structure, local stress evolution and mechanical properties of a perfect lattice and silicon crystal with a single vacancy defect on heating. In addition, their influences on the change in Young’s modulus are also analyzed. The atomic simulations show that in the lower temperature range, the existence of vacancy defects reduces the Young’s modulus of the silicon lattice. With the increase in temperature, the local stress distribution of the atoms in the lattice changes due to the migration of the vacancy. At high temperatures, the Young’s modulus of the silicon lattice changes in anisotropic patterns. For the lattice with the vacancy, when the temperature is higher than 1500 K, the number and degree of distortion in the lattice increase significantly, the obvious single vacancy and its adjacent atoms contracting inward structure disappears and the defects in the lattice present complex patterns. By applying uniaxial tensile force, it can be found that the temperature has a significant effect on the elasticity–plasticity behaviors of the Si lattice with the vacancy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahim Eqra ◽  
Kamal Janghorban ◽  
Habib Daneshmanesh

Abstract Because of extraordinary physical, chemical and mechanical properties, graphene nanosheets (GNS) are suitable fillers for optimizing the properties of different polymers. In this research, the effect of GNS content (up to 1 wt.%) on tensile and flexural properties, morphology of fracture surface, and toughening mechanism of epoxy were investigated. Results of mechanical tests showed a peak for tensile and flexural strength of samples with 0.1 wt.% GNS such that the tensile and flexural strength improved by 13% and 3.3%, respectively. The Young’s modulus and flexural modulus increased linearly with GNS content, although the behavior of the Young’s modulus was more remarkable. Morphological investigations confirmed this behavior because the GNS dispersion in the epoxy matrix was uniform at lower contents and agglomerated at higher contents. Finally, microscopical observation showed that the major toughening mechanism of graphene-epoxy nanocomposites was crack path deflection, which changed the mirror fracture surface of the pure epoxy to rough surface.


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