Investigation of Recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene for Additive Manufacturing

One of the disadvantages of fused deposition modeling (FDM) is waste produced during the printing processes. This investigation focuses on using 100% recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) for the FDM process. The recycling begins with re-granule the waste ABS material and produces it into a new filament. The new recycled filament was used to print the test specimen. Investigation on the mechanical properties and the surface quality of the test specimen and comparison with standard ABS specimen was done. The result shows that the recycled ABS can be produced into filament with 335°C of extrusion temperature and 1.5 mm/s travel speed of the extruder conveyor. The surface roughness of recycled specimen is 6.94% higher than the standard ABS specimen. For ultimate tensile strength, there is a small difference in X and Y orientation between the standard and the recycled ABS specimen which are 22.93% and 19.98%, respectively. However, in Z orientation, it is 52.33% lower. This investigation proves that ABS can be recycled without significantly affecting its mechanical properties.

Green Material for Fused Filament Fabrication

Fused filament fabrication (FFF) has been developed in additive manufacturing technology as a fast and simple manufacturing process in product design. Advantage of the process such as flexibility in terms of the materials employment has attracted many researchers to develop new materials for the feed stock filament in the heat extrusion process of FFF. Green materials or bio-composites materials have been found in FFF and successfully commercialized in the market. However, a deep research should have been performed prior the application because of the unique characteristics of the material itself. The challenge for the researchers to develop bio-composite materials as the filament in FFF technology is to determine the right composition of the composites with the right thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties. Therefore, in this study, a review has been conducted to highlight the important requirements of the process and materials. Green materials such as bio-composites have a great potential in the FFF technology and could improve the sustainability impact.

Modifications of Biodegradable Thermoplastic Starch (TPS) From Sago Starch via Cross-Linking Method

The increasing amount of synthetic plastic waste has contributed to environmental problems worldwide. As an alternative to synthetic plastics, thermoplastic starch (TPS) has been used for many applications, especially packaging application, since TPS provides good biodegradation and ease of disposal and reducing the consumption of petroleum. However, TPS tends to experience loss in mechanical properties and stability due to retrogradation of the starch. Modification of starch is often carried out to overcome this shortcoming in TPS. TPS can be made of various type of starch from various plant sources such as corn, cassava, rice, and potato. Sago starch is a plant-based starch that originates from the sago palm tree. The chapter aims to give a short literature overview on the sago starch, issues related to starch and thermoplastic starch, modification of sago starch via crosslinking method, properties of crosslinked sago starch, and limitation and opportunities of modification of sago starch via crosslinking method.

Green Materials in Hybrid Composites for Automotive Applications

The increasing trend of using bio-based fibre, also known as natural fibre, provides many benefits for long-term environmental preservation. In the biocomposites group, green composites are a specific class whereby the bio-based polymer is reinforced with natural fibre. The current review deals with the advance of green materials in hybrid composites for automotive applications. The variation of green materials such as natural fibres is developed to be used as hybrid green materials as reinforcing materials in composites. There are many works done by another researcher that showed the improvement of utilizing the green materials of composites. The application and challenges of having green materials in composites for automotive applications are also presented.

Starch Cellulosic Bio-Composites

This review discusses the effect of nanocellulose or lignocellulosic fibers introduced in starch films. A concise comparison in the mechanical and water absorption properties of the nanocellulose-reinforced starch originated from different plant species was made. It was found that most of these studies prefer solution casting as popular fabrication technique. Studies found nanocellulose generates positive results on mechanical and water uptake properties. The increment in tensile strength was reported between 1.08 to slightly higher than 2-fold while water uptake was decreased between 1.14 to 1.19-fold. In addition, the fibers also serves well as a reinforcement material for starch matric although not as competent as nanocellulose. Discussion on improvement in mechanical, water uptake, thermal, and biodegradation of lignocellulosic fiber-reinforced starch was presented in this chapter. This review also emphasizes potential uses of nanocellulose reinforced starch composite as a smart food packaging and bio-carrier in bio-delivery system where it contributes considerably to a better life.

Non-Edible Oil Biodiesel Production via Microwave Irradiation Technologies Using Waste-Heterogeneous Catalyst Derived From Natural Calcium Oxide

Biodiesel production or synthesis by non-edible oils has been introduced recently due to its potential to overcome the problems associated with first generation of feedstock, especially the competition between food and transport biofuel. The production of this non-edible resource could be done without major investment and benefit many parties involved: agricultural sector, job creator, biodiversity, and many other benefits. Microwave-assisted technique has been found as one of the methods that has the potential to be a highlight due to its ability to reduce the cost production and produce higher quality biodiesel as well. This method has been identified to enhanced and accelerate the transesterification process in order to obtain higher yields in the biodiesel synthesis. Continuous process in the other hand seems to be more significant when compared to batch solution. This review is an attempt to gather and summarize the existing literature and study the natural heterogeneous catalyst as one of the green and economic methods using microwave irradiation method.

Optimizing the Mercerisation Effect on the Mode I Fracture Toughness of Bambusa Vulgaris Bamboo Using Surface Response Method

Alkaline treatment is widely being promoted to treat natural fibres and improves the fibre bundle surface for better interlocking with the polymer matrix. The aim of this study is to optimize the merceration parameter including natrium hydroxide (NaOH) concentration, soaking and drying time for Bambusa Vulgaris bamboo using response surface methodology (RSM). Here, the treatment conditions were employed by the Box-Behnken design (BBD). The comparative study of the treated and untreated fibre on crack propagation behaviour, Mode I interlaminar fracture toughness (GIC) of the bamboo along the longitudinal direction test was carried out. Through the statistical analysis approach (ANOVA), it is suggested that bamboo treated with 1.5 wt.% concentration of NaOH is capable to reach the fracture toughness value up to 367.25 J/m2. It is also shown that all proposed variables for treatment in this study (i.e., the concentration of the NaOH is highly significant with the 2.85 hours of soaking and drying for 72.5 hours).