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Ye C, Yu F, Huang Y, Hua M, Zhang S, Feng J. Hydrochar as an environment-friendly additive to improve the performance of biodegradable plastics. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 832:155124. [PMID: 35405227 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 04/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Plastic additives affect the properties of plastics, which further determine the application range of plastics. However, most plastic additives have environmental friendliness or performance issues limiting their application. Hydrochar (HC) from waste biomass by hydrothermal carbonization has been proved to contain organic matter as function substances, like a binder, and is environment-friendly material. Currently, hydrochar as a plastic additive has not been previously reported. In this study, the HC/PBAT composites were produced by hydrochar blending with poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) which is a biodegradable polymer. The hydrochar produced at different hydrothermal carbonization temperatures (180 °C, 210 °C, 240 °C, 270 °C, and 300 °C) and the addition of hydrochar (10 wt%, 20 wt%) were investigated. The results showed that the elastic modulus of the composites was increased by 27.4 MPa and 32.5 MPa compared with virgin PBAT while adding 10 wt% and 20 wt% hydrochar, respectively. Moreover, the stiffness of the composite was improved, and the balance of stiffness and toughness of the composites was effectively maintained when adding 10 wt% hydrochar treated at 300 °C. The elongation at break, tensile strength, and the elastic modulus of its composites were 630.8 ± 13.7%, 23.0 ± 0.4 MPa, and 100.5 ± 2.7 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the crystallization temperature of the composites was increased after hydrochar was added into PBAT, and the maximum was 87.9 °C. It also means that hydrochar has a great nucleation effect during plastic processing. Therefore, hydrochar can be used as an environment-friendly additive to promote the performance of biodegradable plastic and promise to be applied in the field of biodegradable plastics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Ye
- Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP(3)), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Fengbo Yu
- Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP(3)), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Yanqin Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Mingda Hua
- Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP(3)), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Shicheng Zhang
- Shanghai Technical Service Platform for Pollution Control and Resource Utilization of Organic Wastes, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP(3)), Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Jiachun Feng
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
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Asadollahzadeh M, Mahboubi A, Taherzadeh MJ, Åkesson D, Lennartsson PR. Application of Fungal Biomass for the Development of New Polylactic Acid-Based Biocomposites. Polymers (Basel) 2022; 14:polym14091738. [PMID: 35566907 PMCID: PMC9100248 DOI: 10.3390/polym14091738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Fungal biomass (FB), a by-product of the fermentation processes produced in large volumes, is a promising biomaterial that can be incorporated into poly(lactic acid) (PLA) to develop enhanced biocomposites that fully comply with the biobased circular economy concept. The PLA/FB composites, with the addition of triethyl citrate (TEC) as a biobased plasticizer, were fabricated by a microcompounder at 150 °C followed by injection molding. The effects of FB (10 and 20 wt %) and TEC (5, 10, and 15 wt %) contents on the mechanical, thermal and surface properties of the biocomposites were analyzed by several techniques. The PLA/FB/TEC composites showed a rough surface in their fracture section. A progressive decrease in tensile strength and Young’s modulus was observed with increasing FB and TEC, while elongation at break and impact strength started to increase. The neat PLA and biocomposite containing 10% FB and 15% TEC exhibited the lowest (3.84%) and highest (224%) elongation at break, respectively. For all blends containing FB, the glass transition, crystallization and melting temperatures were shifted toward lower values compared to the neat PLA. The incorporation of FB to PLA thus offers the possibility to overcome one of the main drawbacks of PLA, which is brittleness.
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