Search

The coating process on food packaging paper is carried out to improve the food safety aspect from dangerous substance migration from food packaging into food. It can facilitate to increase its function and wide the potency of utilization. The coating materials commonly used are plastic and wax coatings. Chitosan as a natural polymer that has the binding properties both water and oil. Chitosan has polar and non-polar groups thus it is potential to be developed as a coating material for food packaging paper. The purpose of this study was to determine the physical-mechanical and antimicrobial properties of food packaging paper from oil palm empty fruit bunches pulp coated with chitosan. The parameters used were chitosan and pulp weight. The oil palm empty fruit bunch pulp was fibrillated with high speed blender then mixed with chitosan solution. The mixed solution was poured in the mold and dried in an oven at 60°C for 24 hours. The results showed that increasing of chitosan content was coated paper increased physical and mechanical properties values. The more pulp content the higher the physical properties value, however the mechanical properties value tend to decrease. The antimicrobial activity of chitosan coated paper was evaluated by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones. The results revealed that all tested samples showed growth inhibition zone againts to Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus after 24 h incubation compared to commercial food packaging paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is natural polymer that has nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatibility material. Chitosan has been investigated as papermaking additive to improve properties of paper such as physical and optical properties. The objective of the research was to investigate the effectiveness chitosan in papermaking process and to determine the effect of chitosan on properties of paper. Chitosan was added in papermaking process with different dosage 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2%. The efficiencies of Chitosan in papermaking can be obtained by measuring and analyzing of properties of paper, such as physical and optical properties. The increasing dosage of chitosan, will increase the physical properties of paper, such as tensile strength and decrease water absorption of paper, but will not influence the brightness of paper. The optimum concentration of chitosan used in paper in this study is 1.5%. The result shows that chitosan used in paper can improve the properties of paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is natural polymer that has non-toxic properties, biodegradable and biocompatibility material. This study aimed to investigate the effect of chitosan as antitermite in papermaking. The effectiveness of chitosan as antitermite was determined by measuring weight loss of cellulose paper. The concentration of chitosan used in this study was varied from 1% to 5%. Chitosan was dissolved in 1% acetic acid and then applied it to paper sample with soaking treatment. They were exposed to subterranean termite for two weeks. The effectiveness of chitosan were evaluated by determining the weight loss of paper. The results showed that concentration of chitosan solution affected the weight loss of paper. As concentration of chitosan increased, the percentage of weight loss decreased. This study indicated 3% of chitosan as optimum concentration and chitosan was effective as biotermicide in papermaking. Chitosan has potential to be used as antitermite in paper making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research identifies emergent topical trends of chitosan technology and its applications and constructs technological directions for business strategy in a hyper-competitive environment. A total of 2,612 scientific papers on chitosan technology published between 2010 and 2019 was retrieved from Web of Science (WoS) using various search queries. Results from bibliometric predictive intelligence (BPI) modelling highlight four major emergent topics related to technology convergence, namely shelf life, regenerative medicine, therapeutic agents, and antioxidant capacities. Four potential industries for chitosan application were identified: healthcare; cosmetics; agriculture; and food and beverages. The findings reveal a 75% increase in research publications since 2016 compared with previous years, which in turn illustrates the potential of technological goals to stimulate socially responsible research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the utilization of natural fibres as sound absorption materials has shown tremendous growth across the globe. The capabilities of natural fibre as the replacement material for synthetic fibre sound absorbers have been proven by many researchers. However, due to several drawbacks, natural fibre needs to be treated, and alkaline pre-treatment using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) has become the most favourable method. The use of NaOH in the natural fibre pre-treatment varies depending on the type of natural fibre. This treatment leads to significant changes in the surface morphology as well as the physical characteristics of the fibre. This paper reviewed the usage of low and high NaOH concentrations during the pre-treatment of natural fibre. Their effects on the surface morphology, the diameter of the strand and sound absorption performance were observed and further discussed. Findings revealed that the differences in NaOH concentration and soaking duration during the pre-treatment affect not only the physical properties but also the sound absorption performance of natural fibre. NaOH pre-treatment using either low or high NaOH concentrations can eliminate most of the impurities such as the oil residue, waxes, and pectin from lignin, which is one of the outer structural layers of natural fibre. The use of higher NaOH concentration in the pre-treatment results in a much rougher surface on natural fibres and creates many micropores in palm-based fibres such as empty fruit bunches and coconut coir due to the elimination of silica bodies from the fibre. Increasing the surface roughness consequently increases the friction between sound waves and fibres, hence improving the sound absorption coefficient (SAC) values. Besides, higher NaOH concentrations also caused the diameter of the fibre to decrease, resulting in a thinner fibre. Hence, in the fabrication of any natural fiber composite, more fibre needs to be used in order to achieve the same volume, weight, thickness, and density of the composite. The use of more fibres results in a larger surface area and results in longer routes and more difficult airflow movement in the composite, which also allows more sound energy to be dissipated. Those factors improved the sound absorption performance of natural fibres as a sound absorber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ortho braces implants are a common treatment the teeth, the following materials are used cobalt-chromium alloys, titanium and its alloys, and other metallic biomaterials have been used in orthodontics this paper summarizes current knowledge on implant surfaces, ortho braces metallic implants, short implants, maxilla implants, teeth coating and custom implants using three-dimensional printing. Most of the implant surface modifications showed good Osseo integration results, polymer to develop biocompatible polymers for ortho metallic implants produced from the natural sources. Because the braces must be have anti toxic. People wearing braces are suffering from corrosion and allergic reactions. To prevent these we are using a metallic coating to braces and to prevent corrosion. Preparation of biopolymer might to work on the anti-corrosion activity of that biopolymer using cyclic voltammetric analysis, they analyze the swelling effect and moisture content. And also analyze the tensile strength of biopolymer. To confirm the anti-bio film effect of biopolymer and Analysis of structure by SEM. Santiago Arango et al., reported that coating of polytetra – fluoro ethylene on Ortho brace prevent the corrosion. In this project, biopolymers coated Ortho braces will be tested for anticorrosion effect and biocompatibility in in-vitro analysis. To observe whether any hole occurred inside or microbes happened and presence of 200nm amplify. SEM analysis to allow a solvent to evaporate and dried.MIC values are used to determine bacterial drug susceptibilities as well as to assess the efficacy of novel antimicrobial medicines. A long-term clinical trial and a more predictive study are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental concern with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has given researchers and industries more attention to using renewable resources and eco-friendly composite materials. However, conventional machining methods have drawbacks when machining natural composite materials. As a promising unconventional method, laser cutting has attracted the attention of manufacturing industries to machining composites, including natural fiber-reinforced polymer composites (NFRCs). Natural polymer composite materials, particularly those that use natural fibers as fillers, are trendy in a wide range of engineering applications. The challenge of this nontraditional method with NFRCs required the industries to demand extensive research into composite materials cutting properties and laser mechanisms. Using a long-pulse laser beam for cutting causes thermal effects during the material removal process. These effects include melting zones, heat-affected zones (HAZ), recast layers, and thermal damage to neighboring layers. This paper focuses on the overview of the laser machining concept in laser cutting processes and their advantages in cutting NFRCs. The final product applications of the NFRCs determine the laser machining strategies. The laser cutting performance analysis associated with machining challenges and essential process parameters that affect the cutting kerf quality and the HAZ is outlined for a better fundamental understanding in this research area. Future research into laser cutting mechanisms on NFRCs could benefit from new combinations of laser type, process parameters, and selected composition of NFRCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to investigate biopolymeric wastes that combine the quality of the raw material with the desired application to obtain carbon materials. The raw materials used to obtain products for environmental application must have a low ash content and a quality as uniform as possible. Depending on the requirements of the target products used for depollution purposes, the quality characteristics of the precursors are presented: biopolymeric waste - fruit kernels/shells of peach, olive, and walnut shells, wastes from the pressing of fruit kernels for several types of representative carbon materials used for water depollution. Physical-chemical characterization is provided as ultimate analysis. The quality parameters of the renewable biopolymers in the case of obtaining different types of carbon materials precursors. To select the most appropriate waste to be used for targeted application, the potential for improving their characteristics was analyzed by applying a metric that consists in calculating the distance between two points belonging to the same vegetable waste for both stages (waste and char). Thus, for each type of waste, a distance was calculated for the carbon and nitrogen content, for the carbon and hydrogen content, respectively for the carbon and oxygen content. The results of the analysis indicate a ranking of the waste to be used in recycling technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the food supplement industry has grown considerably, mainly due to the orientation of consumers towards more natural products. In Romania, the Institute of Food Bioresources notified over 900 food supplements in 2020 and over 1500 in 2019. Unfortunately, the use of these supplements, although healthy, is problematic due to environmental pollution. The packaging used, often disposable, is highly polluting, multilayer, difficult to sort and impossible to recycle. This paper presents a viable option for packaging food supplements: completely edible materials, obtained from biopolymers, with rosemary, thyme and oregano essential oils addition. Agar, sodium alginate, and glycerol were used to obtain the films. The essential oils were added in different volumes. The samples were tested in order to evaluate the physical and optical characteristics and to determine solubility. The solubility characteristics are important in this sense as these films are recommended as packaging for food supplements and can be consumed with them, by dissolving in liquids with a temperature of about 30 degrees. The addition of essential oil has improved the physical characteristics of the films. Thus, they presented a more pleasant smell, taste and color, improved transmittance, and reduced roughness. The films were also tested microbiologically, and no microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts and molds developed on the samples. The addition of essential oil increased the values of the film transmittance (from 4.22% in the case of the control sample, to 15.98% in the case of the sample with 25 microliters of oregano essential oil). Similarly, the opacity values decreased with the addition of essential oils (from 28.254 to 17.24 for the sample with a lower volume of oregano essential oil in the composition). According to microstructure images and micro topographies, films with the addition of oregano essential oil are more homogeneous, more uniform and with lower roughness values. The results obtained indicate the possibility and benefits of using these films for packaging food supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, DMAIC – Six Sigma concept is applied for the selection of suitable polymer composite material reinforced with green natural fibers to make composite wall brick. There were two separate decision-making approaches are obtained from the result of six sigma process and the same has been implemented namely qualitative and quantitative methods. From these two approaches, coir fiber was suggested suitable selection for making this Epoxy based wall bricks. DMAIC framework from the Six Sigma process played a significant role throughout the material selection process with several techniques in each stage. As a result of this, coir fiber was chosen as natural reinforcement material and urethane as epoxy composites in final selection process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable and abundant material that can be used as raw material to obtain biopolymers. In this paper, the production of carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass was investigated in order to obtain raw materials for biopolymer production. A technological methodology for polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) production from lignocellulosic biomass was proposed. The autohydrolysis pretreatment of peach orchards leads to carbohydrates separation at high temperatures (160, 180, and 200°C) and pressure (80 bar). The effect of pretreatment methods for carbohydrate production was evaluated. The structural characterization of lignocellulosic biomass, before and after pretreatment, was carried out by reflected light microscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no substitute to the authenticity of Natural materials. Now a days the use of renewable or naturally available resources is increasing demand which leads to evaluation of new materials and its processes. Many researches are going on and new ideas are coming up with excellent results. This paper proposes the usage of naturally available materials instead of synthetic materials to reduce the cost. It has an effective utilization of waste materials along with eco-friendly materials. It also gives a brief description and experimental study on the development of polymer-based composites using natural fiber such as coconut and palm tree fiber by hand lay-up process and its characterization. An attempt is made to compute mechanical properties of Natural Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite (NFRPC) having different fiber and orientation. The matrix used is polyester resin with cobalt octoate as a hardener and Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide (MEK Peroxide). The test such as bend test and hardness test according to ASTM D 790 and ASTM D785 standards are carried out on sample respectively to test the flexural stress, flexural modulus and hardness number against currently accepted standard materials in the industrial area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of composites in various engineering fields is increasing day by day. Many researchers are working on composites fabricating with different natural and artificial fibres. This paper presents the analysis of tensile behaviour of epoxy composites fabricated with different fibres. The composites are prepared by hand layup method by reinforcing the emu bird feather, kusha grass and copper wire in epoxy resin. The composites were prepared by varying the fibre lengths as 10, 20, 30, 40 & 50 mm and fibre weight percentage from 1 to 5. From the research, it is noticed that increase in length and fibre loading the tensile strength of composites reinforced with emu fibre is decreasing. For kusha grass and copper fibre epoxy composites, increase in tensile strength is noticed with increase in fibre length and fibre weight percentage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a methodology for the sustainable creation of MDF-type products based on coffee beans is presented. This type of production must be profitable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. Therefore, the relationship between the biomass content and drying temperature of the medium density chipboard plates and the physical characteristics that have low time and constant drying pressure is determined. For this purpose, an experiment is carried out to determine the relationship between biomass at different levels of binders in a percentage way concerning coffee grounds, in specimens of size already determined for experimentation. This process makes it possible to determine possible differences in levels of similarity for a wooden MDF pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results from an experimental study on the dynamic mechanical and viscoelastic properties of Biopolymer (BP) from Waste vegetable oils (WVO) blended with two types of thermoplastic polyethylene (PE) which are Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). BP blended containing 10–30wt.% of BP were injection moulded. MDI were used as crosslinker agent for modifying the matrices. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) of the blended were performed over a temperature range of 30–120°C for BL and 30-140°C for BH under frequency of 1 Hz. DMA revealed no noticeable changes in a-transition temperature when the BP content was increased or were added. The BP blended revealed better temperature resistance at higher BP content. However, the increase in storage modulus was negligible at BL10 and BH20; due to the agglomeration of the BP. The results of the damping ratio analysis revealed that higher interfacial bonding was achieved by addition of MDI crosslinker agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roller compacted concrete(RCC) is similar to conventional concrete but it is having zero slump.The major advantage of Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement (RCCP) is it is more economical than the conventional concrete. In this research banana fibre is taken as the natural fibre. In this paper feasibility study of the composition for the RCCP with Nano Silica and Banana fibre has been specifically studied. Compressive tests according to IS 519 are conducted on RCCP using various compositions of Nano Silica such as 0%, 0.25% , 0.5% , 0.75% , 1.0% , 1.25% , 1.50% , 1.75% , 2.0% , 2.25% , 2.50%, 2.75% & 3.0% and also Banana Fibre of compositions 0.5%, 1.0% , 1.5% , 2.0% 2.5%, 3.0%. The results states that the feasible composition of Nano Silica isupto 2% and Banana fibre is upto 1.5%. Using the above conclusion further research can be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fire performance of phenolic foam is exceptional. It exhibits very low flame spread with negligible smoke emission and a very low level of toxic gas emission. Thus it is recognized as an exceptional FST [Fire, Smoke, low Toxicity material] for thermal insulation. The precursor to phenolic foam is a phenol formaldehyde resin known as resole and prepared by reaction of phenol with formaldehyde under basic conditions. A renewable aromatic material available in extremely large quantities from the paper pulping operations of softwood or hardwoods is lignin. A favorable oxidative degradation process of lignin yields low molecular weight phenolic materials and facilitates co-reaction during the reaction of phenol with formaldehyde into a lignin modified phenolic resole resin. The resulting lignin modified phenolic resole resin containing 20% oxidative degraded lignin was transformed into phenolic foam whose foam characteristics were similar to conventional phenolic foam in thermal conductivity and limiting oxygen index but exhibited better compressive strength that the conventional phenolic foam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of polyester polyhydroxybutyrate with polysaccharide chitosan allow to increase the terms of biodegradation and improve the mechanical characteristics of biomaterial. The investigation of compatibility of the polymers in the composition demonstrates that the content of polyhydroxybutyrate in the composition should not exceed 60% weight. Also the increase in content polyhydroxybutyrate reduces the mechanical properties of the composition. To provide the porosity of biomaterial crosslinking agent can be used. Calcium chloride is effective for cross-linking the structure of chitosan and polyhydroxybutyrate, also this material is non-toxic. In this paper, the study of porous biopolymer films based on chitosan and polyhydroxybutyrate, using calcium chloride as a cross-linking agent, was carried out. The presumable results of this study are the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds between the functional groups of chitosan and polyhydroxybutyrate and possibility of application of calcium chloride as suitable non-toxic material for cross-linking biopolymers, allowing them to make their structure stronger and improve their mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a PVC filled with a biodegradable polymer, such as polyhydroxybutyrate, was investigated. Polyhydroxybutyrate is a natural biopolymer, but its use limits its high cost. These polymeric composites were obtained by rolling. Thermal and thermomechanical properties of polymer composites based on PVC containing various amounts of polyhydroxybutyrate are studied. It has been determined by differential scanning calorimetry method that the glass transition temperature of PVC decreases with increasing percentage of polyhydroxybutyrate filling. For these composite materials, the TMA method yields flow curves, thermomechanical curves. It is determined that unfilled PVC shows a slight deformation and the smallest irreversible deformation. With an increase in the PHB content, both elastic deformation and a viscous flow increase in polymer composites, i.e. with increasing the proportion of polyhydroxybutyrate in the mixture, the elastic properties of the composite increase. Thus, in general, the addition of polyhydroxybutyrate does not significantly impair the performance properties of the resulting composite materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce the negative impact of PVC on the environment, it is becoming popular to produce composite materials based on PVC filled with various natural fillers. For example, bentonite as filler in a polymer matrix can absorb volatile toxic components and accelerate the degradation of PVC. Also in this paper, natural polysaccharides pectin and starch are considered as fillers. Pectin and starch are also capable of accelerating biodegradation of PVC. Nevertheless, the thermal stability of the resulting polymer composites is also of interest. For these polymeric composites, the thermal stability was studied by thermogravimetry, the destruction mechanism was studied, and the kinetic parameters of the thermal destruction were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is a natural polymer very widespread in the animal world, particularly in marine organisms. This biopolymer has three reactive groups in each glycoside unit of the polymeric chain: an amino group and two hydroxyl groups, which determine its characteristics. Between these groups, the most important is the amino group, which is responsible for the cationic nature of biopolymer and which gives its biological properties, as well as certain physical - chemical characteristics, such as solubility (at pH = 6 - 6.5) or adsorption and ability to form films etc. Identification of a new marine sources and finding its applications in different areas represent major challenges for researchers. In this study comparative UV-VIS spectral studies of different chitosan samples extracted from various Romanian Black Sea Coast marine sources were performed. The marine sources were represented by Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) eggs capsules and shells, Palaemon elegans (Rathke, 1837) shrimp exoscheleton and Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Fabricius, 1787) crab exoscheleton. The purpose of this paper is to characterize from spectral point of view our samples of chitosan and to compare the results with those obtained for a commercial chitosan and for few pharmaceutical forms existing on the Romanian market. Our preliminary observations showed the similarity of our chitosan samples, obtained by chemical extraction with those of pharmaceutical standardized forms. Thus, these results could revealed few advantages regarding future applicability in pharmaceutical fields, both in powder and in solutions forms, of the extracted chitosan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have been developing Sonic IR imaging NDE technique which employs a short ultrasonic pulse, typically a fraction of a second, to excite the defects in materials while an infrared camera images the time evolution of the heating effect to identify the defective areas. In addition, we use laser vibrometers to monitor the vibrational behavior of a sample. We have learned that geometry plays an important role in Sonic IR Imaging. In this paper, we present some results of our study on these geometrical effects in Sonic IR Imaging. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials have become so popular thanks to new and unique properties differing them from their classic counterparts. One of the nanomaterials which is commonly used nowadays is graphene and its derivatives. This paper demonstrates the results of laboratory-scale experimental works on the influence of ultra highly concentrated single-layer Graphene Oxide (HCGO) on properties of water based-mud (WBM). GO is a mono-layer of sp²-hybridized carbon atoms derivatized by a mixture of carboxyl, hydroxyl and epoxy functionalities. Hydroxyl and epoxy groups are present in the highest concentrations on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) per sp³ hybridized carbon atoms, while the carboxyl and carbonyl groups are mainly found at the layer's edges, thanks to which GO can be easily dispersed in an aqueous environment. The results of our experimental works show that an addition of ultra highly concentrated single-layer Graphene Oxide (HCGO) modifies the microstructural properties of the fluid. HCGO reduces filtration, even if it is added at a relatively low concentration. The conducted analyses prove that HCGO in biopolymer-based drilling mud with biopolymer XCD reduces the growth of bacteria, fungi and yeasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a preface to the proceedings of the 1st International E-Conference on Biopolymer, Smart Materials, and Engineering Materials 2023 (ICBSEM2023). The conference took place on April 20th and 21st, 2023 at Wollo University, Kombolcha Institute of Technology in Ethiopia. The purpose of the conference was to bring together experts from academic institutions, industries, and research organizations to share knowledge and experiences in the field of mechanical engineering education and research. The conference included 58 papers, plenary lectures, and invited talks, providing opportunities for discussion and bridging the gap between different fields. The document acknowledges the support and encouragement from various individuals and organizations involved in organizing the conference. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper a promising way to improve the material characteristics of virgin PLA for technical applications, e. g. profile extrusion, is described. Thereby PLA is combined with other biopolymers such as cellulose esters and different functional additives to create new biobased blend systems. To verify the improved properties of the new materials several mechanical (tensile test, Charpy impact test), thermal (heat deflection temperature) and dimension accuracy tests have been performed. Furthermore a case study shows that the developed PLA materials are suitable to be processed on standard profile extrusion equipment to produce profiles with a good surface geometrical accuracy and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional, lightweight, strong and cheap plastic bags incorporated with pro-oxidants undergo accelerated degradation under exposure to heat and oxygen. This work investigated the effect of colorant and film thickness on thermal aging characteristics of commercial oxo-biodegradable plastic bag films at 70 °C. Degradation is monitored through changes in infrared absorption, weight, and tensile properties of thermally aged films. The presence of carbonyl band in infrared spectrum after 672 h of thermal aging supports the degradation behavior of exposed films. Results show that incorporation of colorant and increasing thickness exhibit low maximum weight uptake. Titanium dioxide as white colorant in films lowers the susceptibility of films to oxygen uptake but enhances physical degradation. Higher amount of prooxidant loading also contributes to faster degradation. Opaque films are characterized by low tensile strength and high elastic modulus. Decreasing the thickness contributes to lower tensile strength of films. Thermally aged films with colorant and low thickness promote enhanced degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper the effect of the substrate type and the corona polarity were investigated. Various biopolymer substrates (poly lactic acid (PLA). PLA with chitosan and lyophilized PLA) were prepared. These substrates were charged in a positive and in a negative corona and time dependences of the normalized surface potential were studied. After that multilayer films were formed by alternative dipping the substrates into chitosan and xanthan polyelectrolyte solutions. For this purpose 0.1% chitosan solution and 0.05% xanthan solution in acetate buffers with pH 4.5 and ionic strength 0.1 moll were used. The films' morphology was investigated by FTIR and SEM methods. A comparative analysis of the experimental results was presented and the most appropriate substrate type for the irreversible binding of the chitosan- xanthan polyelectrolytes was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at improving the mechanical behavior of biobased brittle amorphous polylactide (PLA) by extrusion melt-blending with biobased semi-crystalline polyamide 11 (PA 11) and addition of natural halloysite nanotubes (HNT). The structure and properties of PLA/PA11/HNT blends were studied in terms of morphological, thermal and mechanical properties. The morphological analysis of the PLA/PA11/HNT blends shows a strong interface between the two polymeric phases due to hydrogen bonding, and the migration of HNTs towards PA 11 phase inducing their selective localization in one of the polymeric phases of the blend. A "salami-like" structure is formed revealing a HNTs-rich tubular-like (fibrillar) PA11 phase. Moreover, HNTs localized in the dispersed phase acts as nucleating agents for PA11. Blending PLA (80 wt.%) and PA11 (20 wt.%) increases PLA ductility (elongation at break, r, is multiplied by more than 20), however at the slight expense of strength and stiffness. Further addition of HNTs (2 wt.%) further increases ductility (r reaches 155%, i.e. it is multiplied by more than 40) whereas tensile strength and modulus of PLA are unchanged and impact strength is more than doubled. The toughening mechanism is discussed based on the combined effect of resistance to crack propagation and nanotubes load bearing capacity due to the existence of the fibrillar structure. Thus, blending brittle PLA with PA11 and HNT nanotubes results in tailor-made PLA-based compounds with enhanced ductility without sacrificing stiffness and strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, bead gels based on natural polymer for controlled release matrix of urea as fertilizer were prepared. The effects of composition of kappa carrageenan – glucomannan – pectin on the rate of urea release were investigated. The mixture solution of natural polymers were injected into palm oil layer and dropped into KCl and CaCl2 solution forming bead gel. The dried bead gels were immersed in glutaraldehyde solution and then heated of 110OC during 15 min. The certain urea was transferred into bead gel by immersion method. The dried bead gel containing urea were release test in water medium. The concentration of urea was measured at certain interval time of release test. It is found that proposed mathematic model may describe the urea release rate from matrix into water. The composition mixture of kappa carrageenan-pectin and mixture of kappa carrageenan –glucomannan produced different properties of the obtained bead gels. Glutaraldehyde crosslinked bead gels may be potential as urea controlled release matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biopolymers have gained notoriety due to their unique physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics and performances. Due to their regenerability, compostability, biocompatibility, non-immunogenic, non-toxic, or non-allergenic properties, they have surpassed the boundaries of the food industry and have become fundamental components in biomedicine or the pharmaceutical industry. Thus, the most well-known applications are as drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, or wound dressings. In addition to all these characteristics, biopolymeric films have proven to be excellent matrices for incorporating various biologically active substances: natural compounds, essential oils, antioxidants, etc. The present study aimed to develop sodium alginate films, with the addition of tea tree and chamomile essential oils capsules. After development through the casting method, the materials were tested for evaluate the physical properties (thickness, retraction ratio, color, transparency, opacity), chemical properties (antioxidant characteristics), mechanical properties (tensile strength and elongation), as well as solubility (water activity index, swelling index, water absorption capacity). The results indicated that alginate based - materials with the addition of essential oils capsules can be used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries for developing films with regenerative properties. Similarly, other biologically active substances can be incorporated, and the development technology can be easily scaled up to an industrial level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a facile method for production stable aqueous dispersion of ferrocene (FO) nanoparticles. Ferrocene compounds were employed to achieve stable nanodispersions, stabilized with three different biopolymers namely, alginate, CM-dextran and chitosan. The nanoparticles produce are spherical, less than 10 nm in mean diameter and highly stable without any sedimentation. Fourier infrared transform (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the purity of ferrocene nanoparticles there is no modifications occur during the preparation route. FTIR spectra results were consistent with the presence of absorption band of cyclopentadienyl ring (C5H5- ion) which assigned to ?(C-C) vibrations (1409 cm-1), d(C-H) stretching at 1001 cm-1 and π(C-H) vibrations at 812 cm-1. Furthermore, all functional group for biopolymers such as C=O from carboxyl group of CM-dextran and sodium alginate appears at 1712 cm-1 and 1709 cm-1 respectively, indicating there are steric repulsion interactions for particles stabilization. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns of sedimented samples of the biopolymers-stabilized ferrocene (FO) showed all reflections which were indexed respectively to the {-110}, {001}, {-201}, {-111}, {200}, {-211}, {210}, {120} and {111} according to the monoclinic phase ferrocene. This confirmed that the products obtained were of high purity of Fe and EDAX analysis also suggests that the presence of the Fe element in the colloidal dispersion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biopolymers are becoming increasingly important to both industry and consumers. With regard to waste management, CO2 balance and the conservation of petrochemical resources, increasing efforts are being made to replace standard plastics with bio-based polymers. Nowadays biopolymers can be built for example of cellulose, lactic acid, starch, lignin or bio mass. The paper will present material properties of selected cellulose based polymers (cellulose propionate [CP], cellulose acetate butyrate [CAB]) and corresponding processing conditions for particle foams as well as characterization of produced parts. Special focus is given to the raw material properties by analyzing thermal behavior (differential scanning calorimetry), melt strength (Rheotens test) and molecular weight distribution (gel-permeation chromatography). These results will be correlated with the foaming behavior in a continuous extrusion process with physical blowing agents and underwater pelletizer. Process set-up regarding particle foam technology, including extrusion foaming and pre-foaming, will be shown. The characteristics of the resulting foam beads will be analyzed regarding part density, cell morphology and geometry. The molded parts will be tested on thermal conductivity as well as compression behavior (E-modulus, compression strength). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is aimed to study the suitability of bio-polymers, including poly-lactic acid (PLLA) and Mater-Bi, for the production of hollow components by rotational molding. In order to reduce the brittleness of PLLA, the material was mixed with two different plasticizers, bis-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate (DEHP) and poly-ethylene-glycol (PEG). The materials were characterized in terms of sinterability. To this purpose, thermomechanical (TMA) analysis was performed at different heating rates, in order to identify the endset temperatures of densification and the onset temperatures of degradation. Results obtained indicated that the materials are characterized by a very fast sintering process, occurring just above the melting temperature, and an adequately high onset of degradation. The difference between the onset of degradation and the endset of sintering, defined as the processing window of the polymer, is sufficiently wide, indicating that the polymers can be efficiently processed by rotational molding. Therefore, a laboratory scale apparatus was used for the production of PLLA and Mater-Bi prototypes. The materials were processed using very similar conditions to those used for LLDPE. The production of void-free samples of uniform wall thickness was considered as an indication of the potentiality of the process for the production of biodegradable containers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper two promising ways to improve the material characteristics of PLA and PHB-V are presented by showing their positive effects on mechanical, optical, and thermal properties. The optimization is achieved by increasing the crystallization from the melt of the polymer chains and the other by means of a reinforcement of the matrices by bio-based materials. In the case of crystallization specific nucleating agents and optimized process parameters promote optimized crystallization conditions and lead particularly in toughness to significant improvements. In addition to crystallization the introduction of cellulose-based reinforcing materials is also a good alternative to improve the ductility of a biopolymer matrix considerably. Due to their polar surface structure cellulose fibres are favouring a very good interaction to the also polar biopolymers. In addition, the polar surfaces of both materials results in very homogeneous dispersion within the compound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, strength characteristics of soils have more importance due to increasing building loads. In some projects, geotechnical properties of the soils are be improved using man-made materials varying from cement-based to chemical-based. These materials have proven successful in improving the engineering properties of the soil such as shear strength, compressibility, permeability, bearing capacity etc.. However, the use of these artificial injection formulas often modifies the pH level of soil, contaminates soil and groundwater. This is attributed to their toxic and hazardous characteristics. Recently, an environmentally friendly soil treatment method or Biological Treatment Method (BTM) was to bond particles of loose sandy soils. This research paper presents the preliminary results of using biopolymers for strengthening cohesionless soil. Xanthan gum was identified for further study over a range of concentrations varying from 0.25% to 2.00%. Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris, used as a food additive and it is a nontoxic material. A series of direct shear, unconfined compressive strength, and permeability tests were carried out to investigate the behavior of sandy soil treated with Xanthan gum with different concentration ratios and at different curing times. Laser microscopy imaging was also conducted to study the microstructure of the treated sand. Experimental results demonstrated the compatibility of Xanthan gum to improve the geotechnical properties of sandy soil. Depending on the biopolymer concentration, it was observed that the biopolymers effectively increased the cohesion intercept and stiffness of the treated sand and reduced the permeability of sand. The microscopy imaging indicates that the cross-links of the biopolymers through and over the soil particles increase with the increase of the biopolymer concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to create new biomaterials- biodegradable protein (Collagen)-based "Core-Shell/Hollow" structural nano- SiO2 composite and to find applications for drug delivery system. These surfactant based composites can used for biomedical field, for ensure health and improvement of life quality. Biocompatibility between drugs and substrates (membranes, matrices, polymer films, hydrogels, creams, capsules, pearls, powders, nanoparticles) is a very important issue for the optimal prescription of different treatments for the human body and maintaining health. It was obtained biomaterials by immobilizing drugs on various polymeric substrates, establishing the optimal conditioning formula, both in the preparation phase and in the adsorption phase of active components on the substrate. These are structured nanoparticles which contain a core from one material (or hollow) and a protective shell from another material, with sizes ranging between: 20 and 200 nm. The basic composition for both the core and the shell can be changed, providing a wide range of properties and applications (e.g. nanosensors, dyes). "Core-Shell/Hollow" structures are synthesized in two stages: the core is synthesized through conventional polymerization in emulsion and then it is incubated with a secondary emission, containing monomers and initiators, synthesizing the shell. The droplet fusion process and monomer migration determine core occurrence in the second emulsion, on which shells are formed by polymerization. Protein/"Core-Shell/Hollow" and SiO2 nanoparticle structures, with applications in controlled drug release systems are a new trend in biomedicine and a challenge for experts in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simplified models representing biopolymers at less than atomic resolution (Coarse Grained) have recently become popular due to the need of reaching the μ-scale (in space and time domains) in simulations. The reduction of the internal degrees of freedom of the system brings a potentially unlimited saving of computational cost, at the expenses of the introduction of two main class of problems: (i) those related to the representability of the system and back-mapping to atomistic representation, (ii) those related to the parameterization of an accurate and predictive, yet simple enough, force field for the interactions. In this paper we illustrate these two issues focusing on the representative sub-class of the "minimalist" models, namely those with a single interacting center for amino-acid or nucleotide. We describe their features and the different available parameterization methodologies, illustrating their positive and negative aspects, with the aim of giving guiding lines for a general parameterization strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodegradable plastics are novel materials which can be degraded by organic methods. The aim of the work was to investigate the usability of a cellulose-acetate (CA) and a polylactide (PLA) based material as a printed circuit board (PCB) with conductive layer peel tests. The common types of conductive layer coating processes were proposed: copper foil lamination, copper electroplating and thick film conductive layer deposition. The paper focuses solely of copper foil lamination. The laminates were examined by optical microscopy. The copper layer peel tests were mainly used to determine the bonding strength of the conductive layer, according to the instructions of IPC-TM-650 standard. Future investigations will involve application and test of the other conductive layer deposition processes, also the possible soldering methods, and thermal stability of the biodegradable PCBs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most of Micro-Mechanical product new applications are disposable polymer parts. The increasing of environmental concerns and the unsustainability of petrochemical resources are going to promote the employment of biopolymers in the near future. A new approach to experimentation in Micro-Injection Moulding (MIM) is presented in this paper, where a special modular mould has been designed and manufactured to be employed in the characterization of biopolymers injected into micro-geometries. As a result, important interactions between injection parameters and geometrical ratios in micro-geometry have been addressed, demonstrating that not only the usual injection parameters analysis is needed in order to get success in biopolymers MIM, but micro-geometry features also have to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is experimental evidence to show that the motor protein kinesin literally "walks" along the biopolymer microtubule. It is possible to depict this "stepping" as the movement of a point along a reaction coordinate. The reorientation of the attached head is an energetically downhill "power stroke." No energy is dissipated (i.e. a flat stretch along the reaction coordinate) during the subsequent diffusive route of the detached head to a new forward docking site. A model that is based on these premises can quantitatively account for the experimentally measured load-velocity diagrams and for the diffusion-drift ratios at different loads. Presently there is a divide in the research on molecular motors and directed transport. Theoreticians study simple, ratchet based mechanisms to come to an understanding of the physics of motion in the overdamped, Brownian realm. Many biophysicists seek to clarify the operation of the motor protein through a detailed study of the 3D molecular structure. This paper attempts to bridge the gap by rigorously modeling the stepping process in an overdamped, Brownian environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biopolymers and membranes constitute the basic structures of the biological systems in mesoscopic level. Due to flexibility combined with low dimensionality in their primary structures, they tend to be susceptible to thermal fluctuation and thus undergo conformational transitions relevant to biological functions. In this vein, I will review our recent studies of conformational transitions and instabilities in the interacting systems of a polymer and a membrane, including a semiflexible polymer on a surface, a model membrane-bound protein conformations, membrane budding and encapsulation by an adsorbed polymer, and soft mode instability of membranes. The central themes of the paper are soft matter flexibility and connectivity that can give rise to a variety of conformational change and cooperativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to evaluate the roundness error in drilling of Novel Hybrid glass/luffa/epoxy composites by addition of silica nanoparticles in comparison with plain luffa natural fiber composites. he plain luffa natural fiber composite reinforced with epoxy/glass fiber taken as control group(N=20). The luffa/glass material is reinforced along with an epoxy matrix mixed by addition of silica nanoparticles filler taken as an experimental group(N=20). The control group and experimental group are conducted by using a hand lay-up method. Roundness in drilling is conducted as per ASTM standards. Roundness error during drilling was calculated by using the imageJ software and the damaged area was compared for both groups. The G power test was used to assess the number of samples in each group. Glass fiber with plain luffa without filler epoxy composite laminate exhibited a decrease of 64.66% in damage area than the 2% volume fraction of silica nanoparticles luffa/glass laminates. The significant value of P is 0.043 (<0.05). Within the limits of study, glass fiber/luffa fiber reinforced with epoxy material without filler exhibits a significant reduction in the roundness error during the drilling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microdebris, particularly microplastic, is considered a global marine environmental pollutant. Microdebris can contaminate marine species and human-consumed products, potentially harming marine biota ecosystems and human health. This research conducted a preliminary study on the presence, physical properties, and material type of microdebris in food-grade sea salt. Two types of food-grade sea salt samples, namely sea salt and refined sea salt, were collected from a traditional market in South Tangerang, Indonesia. The physical properties of microdebris, such as size and shape, were observed using a digital microscope after extraction to separate the microcontaminants. The material type of microdebris was determined using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) - microscope. All samples contained microdebris contamination in the shape of fibers and fragments, with fibers being the most common. The most common size of microdebris found in sea salt is 1000-2000 µm, while in refined sea salt it is 100-500 µm. The material types of microdebris found in sea salt and refined sea salt were identified as cellulose-based polymers. Moreover, a mixture of amide-based and cellulose-based polymers was found in the microdebris of the sea salt sample. Cellulose-based polymers can be derived from semi-synthetic polymers as well as natural polymers. Similarly, amide-based polymers can be of natural or synthetic origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keratin is a high-potential biopolymer as raw material for bioplastic to overcome environmental problems due to plastic waste. In this research, keratin was extracted from chicken feathers using the acid method. Extract keratin was blended with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and various amount of glycerol as a plasticizer to produce bioplastics. Analysis of mechanical properties and surface morphology was used to determine the best synthesis result. The best bioplastic was produced from the ratio of 5/1 for CMC/keratin with 25% w/w of glycerol. These keratin-based bioplastics might be further studied as an eco-friendly biomaterial for further application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid electrolyte materials made out of natural polymers as components of lithium-ion battery cells were interesting. Cellulose-based biopolymer material had prepared from a rope bamboo (Gigantochloa apus) using a microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method. The first step carried out an identification of cellulose content of rope bamboo with data analysis on the Chesson-Datta method. The rope bamboo was delignification using an alkaline solution, where the rope bamboo material soaked by 2% NaOH solution for 1 day. A sample inserted into the microwave at 50°C for heating with a various duration (30, 40, and 50 minutes). The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Particle Size Analyzer (PSA). The cellulose content of rope bamboo after delignification was 72% and 2% lignin. The result of XRD analysis showed that the diffraction pattern of the three samples showed an amorphous cellulose-Iα structure the best crystal size based on the hkl (121) plane of the 30 minutes heating variation sample was ∼35 nm. The result of FTIR analysis proved the presence of hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups in sample of rope bamboo. The result of SEM analysis confirmed the morphological structure of cellulose that forms the fibers, with the best particle size distribution at 30 minutes heating variation was ∼1.5 µm on PSA analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bran oil, commonly called Rice bran oil (RBO), is extracted from rice bran using a volatile solvent. RBO extract is reported to have poor stability against the heating process. Therefore it is necessary to increase the stability to protect its benefit. Many environmentally friendly methods are being developed in storing food, including the application of microencapsulation. Microencapsulation is a process in which a thin coating polymer envelopes small solid particles or liquid droplets, and the particle size ranges from 1-5000 µm. This research aims to study the effect of the addition of emulsifier Tween 20 on rice bran oil microencapsulation using natural polymers kappa-carrageenan and chitosan as encapsulants coacervation method. Microencapsulations were analyzed by Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectrophotometer (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), encapsulation efficiency, and yield. In this study, two Tween 20 emulsifier volume variations were used, namely 0.5 mL and 1 mL. Results show that obtained particles have an appearance that is not different. The surface is uneven, structured, and aggregated. RBO was successfully loaded on the matrix chitosan/carrageenan, as can be seen on FTIR spectra. However, for the addition of 0.5 mL, Tween 20 particles had a wider, structured, and finer morphology and had a higher encapsulation efficiency of 66.4959%. The higher the Tween 20 concentration, the more microencapsulations formed, which may break, resulting in lower efficiency. The yield of microencapsulations obtained was 91.9563 for 0.5 mL Tween 20 and 92.2781 for 1 mL Tween 20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]