New Developments for Lignocellulosics-Nanocomposites with Low Carbon Footprint
- PDF / 1,299,092 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 612 x 792 pts (letter) Page_size
- 79 Downloads / 237 Views
New Developments for Lignocellulosics-Nanocomposites with Low Carbon Footprint Alcides L. Leao1; Bibin M. Cherian1; Sivoney F. Souza2; Mohini Sain3; Suresh Narine4. 1
UNESP – Sao Paulo State University, Brazil;
2
UFABC – Federal University of ABC, Brazil;
3
UofT – University of Toronto, Canada
4
Trent University, Peterborough, Canada
ABSTRACT Cellulose nanofibrils have been evaluated as reinforcement material in polymeric matrixes due to their potential to improve the mechanical, optical, and dielectric properties of these matrixes as well as its environmental positive footprint. This work describes how banana nanocellulose can be used to replace others not so friendly materials in many applications including, biomaterials, automotive industries and packaging by proved with their mechanical properties. The process used is very mild to the environment and consists of a high pressure fibrillation followed by a chemical purification which affects the fiber morphology. Many fibers characterization processes were used including microscopy techniques and X-ray diffraction to study the structure and properties of the prepared nanofibers and composites. Microscopy studies showed that the used individualization processes lead to a unique morphology of interconnected web-like structure of the fibers. INTRODUCTION In recent decades new materials made of renewable sources have been considered to replace the traditional man-made ones. The union of these new materials with the interest of using renewable natural resources represents a positive moment, and Brazil has many advantages in this field. The natural polymers and several natural fibers are excellent sources of raw material for nanocomposites. The advantages of the presence of nanoparticles in composites include reduced weight, improved mechanical properties, better stress transfer, reducing the amount of dead load in many applications, mainly automotive and aeronautical (LEÃO, 2009). There are published data showing that the use of nanocomposites by automakers in the U.S.A. could save 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline for one year and consequently reduce CO2 emissions to more than 7.5 million tons (VAIA, 2008). It is important to mention that even with all the advantages described, still there are some safety concerns about nanoparticles, since due to its size they can penetrate deep into the cells representing a potential health threat (DUFRESNE, 2010). The fields of application of these materials can be listed: nanolithography, nanomedicine, nanoparticles, nanosensors, etc. The chemical, physical and biological properties of materials at the nanoscale have fundamental differences about their properties at the conventional level, because of quantum mechanical interactions at the atomic scale. Therefore, in addition to having superior physical and chemical characteristics, nanocomposites will be lighter, more compliant in relation to the recycling process, and competitive with other materials for specific applications
(SEYDIBEYOGLU, OKSMAN, 2008), although very fe
Data Loading...
