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. 2015 Nov 11;8(11):7536-7548.
doi: 10.3390/ma8115406.

Mechanical, Thermomechanical and Reprocessing Behavior of Green Composites from Biodegradable Polymer and Wood Flour

Marco Morreale  1 , Antonio Liga  2 , Maria Chiara Mistretta  3 , Laura Ascione  4 , Francesco Paolo La Mantia  5
Affiliations

Mechanical, Thermomechanical and Reprocessing Behavior of Green Composites from Biodegradable Polymer and Wood Flour

Marco Morreale et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

The rising concerns in terms of environmental protection and the search for more versatile polymer-based materials have led to an increasing interest in the use of polymer composites filled with natural organic fillers (biodegradable and/or coming from renewable resources) as a replacement for traditional mineral inorganic fillers. At the same time, the recycling of polymers is still of fundamental importance in order to optimize the utilization of available resources, reducing the environmental impact related to the life cycle of polymer-based items. Green composites from biopolymer matrix and wood flour were prepared and the investigation focused on several issues, such as the effect of reprocessing on the matrix properties, wood flour loading effects on virgin and reprocessed biopolymer, and wood flour effects on material reprocessability. Tensile, Dynamic-mechanical thermal (DMTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and creep tests were performed, pointing out that wood flour leads to an improvement of rigidity and creep resistance in comparison to the pristine polymer, without compromising other properties such as the tensile strength. The biopolymer also showed a good resistance to multiple reprocessing; the latter even allowed for improving some properties of the obtained green composites.

Keywords: biopolymer; creep; dynamic mechanical analysis; green composites; mechanical properties; thermal analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison on stress-strain curves for virgin BioFlex at different wood flour content.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Storage modulus (a) and damping factor (b) for the investigated samples (V = pristine polymer, R4 = four-times reprocessed polymer, V15 and V30 = 15% and 30% filled composites, R4-15 and R4-30 = 15% and 30% filled composites prepared with polymer that has been reprocessed four times).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Elastic modulus of pristine BioFlex and related composites (abbreviations as in Table 5).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Creep curves of the composites at 60 °C and 1.5 MPa load (15% and 30% filled composites: V15 and V30; 15% and 30% filled composites prepared after repeated recycling of the polymer matrix: R15 and R30).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Morphology of fractured surfaces of samples (a,b) V-15; (c,d) V-30; (e,f) R4-15; (g,h) R4-30 at different magnifications.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Morphology of fractured surfaces of samples (a,b) V-15; (c,d) V-30; (e,f) R4-15; (g,h) R4-30 at different magnifications.
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