Durability of Biodegradable Polymer Nanocomposites

Biodegradable polymers (BP) are often regarded as the materials of the future, which address the rising environmental concerns. The advancement of biorefineries and sustainable technologies has yielded various BP with excellent properties comparable to commodity plastics. Water resistance, high dimensional stability, processability and excellent physicochemical properties limit the reviewed materials to biodegradable polyesters and modified compositions of starch and cellulose, both known for their abundance and relatively low price. The addition of different nanofillers and preparation of polymer nanocomposites can effectively improve BP with controlled functional properties and change the rate of degradation. The lack of data on the durability of biodegradable polymer nanocomposites (BPN) has been the motivation for the current review that summarizes recent literature data on environmental ageing of BPN and the role of nanofillers, their basic engineering properties and potential applications. Various durability tests discussed thermal ageing, photo-oxidative ageing, water absorption, hygrothermal ageing and creep testing. It was discussed that incorporating nanofillers into BP could attenuate the loss of mechanical properties and improve durability. Although, in the case of poor dispersion, the addition of the nanofillers can lead to even faster degradation, depending on the structural integrity and the state of interfacial adhesion. Selected models that describe the durability performance of BPN were considered in the review. These can be applied as a practical tool to design BPN with tailored property degradationand durability.

Hygrothermal Ageing Influence on BVI-Damaged Carbon/Epoxy Coupons under Compression Load

Composite materials usage in several industrial fields is now widespread, and this leads to the necessity of overcoming issues that are still currently open. In the aeronautic industry, this is especially true for Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID) and humidity uptake issues. BVID is the most insidious kind of impact damage, being rather common and not easily detectable. These, along with the ageing that a composite structure could face during its operative life, could be a cause of fatal failures. In this paper, the influence of water absorption on impacted specimens compressive residual strength was studied. Specimens were impacted using a modified Charpy pendulum. Two different locations were chosen for comparison: Near-Edge (NE) and Central (CI). Accelerated hygrothermal ageing was conducted on impacted and reference nonimpacted coupons, placing them in a water-filled jar at 70 °C. Compressive tests were performed in accordance with the Combined Loading Compression (CLC) test method. A Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) was performed as well. The results showed the influence of hygrothermal ageing, as expected. Nevertheless, the influence of impact location on compressive residual strength is not clearly noticeable in aged specimens, leading to the conclusion that hygrothermal ageing may have a greater effect on composite compressive strength than the analysed BVI damage.