• Advances in materials Research
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.129-137
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• 2014

Biocomposites from polypropylene (PP) and corn cob (CC) were investigated. The effect of corn cob content and maleic anhydride polypropylene (MAPP) as compatibilizer were studied. Results showed that addition of corn cob (CC) in PP have decreased the tensile strength and elongation at break, whereas modulus of elasticity of biocomposites increased. The biocomposites with the MAPP as compatibilizer exhibited higher tensile strength and modulus of elasticity compared biocomposites without MAPP. The morphology study of biocomposites indicates that enhanced the interfacial interaction and adhesion between filler and matrix with the presence of MAPP.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2008

Environmentally friendly biocomposites were made using plant-based natural fibers, such as henequen and kenaf. The natural fiber reinforced polypropylene (PP) and unsaturated polyester (UP) biocomposites were examined in terms of the reinforcing effect of natural fibers on thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Kenaf (KE) and henequen (HQ) fibers were treated with an electron beam (EB) of 10 and 200 kGy doses, respectively, or with a 5 wt% NaOH solution. Four types of biocomposites (KE/PP, HQ/PP, KE/UP and HQ/UP) were fabricated by compression molding and each biocomposite was characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. The kenaf fiber had the larger reinforcing effect on the dynamic mechanical properties of both PP and UP biocomposites than the henequen fiber. The highest storage modulus was obtained from the biocomposite with the combination of UP matrix and 200 kGy EB treated kenaf fibers.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.411-417
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• 2008

The surfaces of henequen fibers, which can be obtained from the leaves of agave plants, were treated with two different media, tap water and sodium hydroxide, that underwent both soaking and ultrasonic methods for the fiber surface treatment. Various biocomposites were fabricated with untreated and treated, chopped henequen fibers and polypropylene using a compression molding method. The result is discussed in terms of interfacial shear strength, flexural properties, dynamic mechanical properties, and fracture surface observations of the biocomposites. The soaking (static method) and ultrasonic (dynamic method) treatments with tap water and sodium hydroxide at different concentrations and treatment times significantly influenced the interfacial, flexural and dynamic mechanical properties of henequen/polypropylene biocomposites. The alkali treatment was more effective than the water treatment in improving the interfacial and mechanical properties of randomly oriented, chopped henequen/PP bio-composites. In addition, the application of the ultrasonic method to each treatment was relatively more effective in increasing the properties than the soaking method, depending on the treatment medium and condition. The greatest improvement in the properties studied was achieved by ultrasonic alkalization of natural fibers, which was in agreement with the other results of interfacial shear strength, flexural strength and modulus, storage modulus, and fracture surfaces.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.178-182
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• 2008

The bleached red algae fiber(BRAF) showed very similar crystallinity to the cellulose, furthermore, it has higher thermal decomposition temperature than that of the microcrystalline cellulose(MCC). Polypropylene biocomposites reinforced with BRAF have been fabricated with various BRAF contents by compression molding method and their mechanical and thermomechanical properties have been studied. The mechanical strength as tensile, impact and flexural modulus of BRAF/PP biocomposites were gradually improved with increasing the BRAF content, and thermal property which against the thermal expansion was markdly improved, especially. These results are compared with chopped non-woody fibers as Henequen or Kenaf, BRAF was more effective for fabrication of biocomposites reinforced small-sized fibers. The red algae fiber reinforced biocomposites has the applicability such as electronics, biodegradable products and small-structure composites.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.121-130
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• 2012

In the present study, bamboo/PLA biocomposites through injection molding process using extruded bamboo/PLA pellets with the fiber contents of 30, 40, and 50 wt% according to the presence and absence of bamboo fiber grinding, respectively, were fabricated and their mechanical, thermal, impact, and water absorption properties were explored. Compared to neat PLA, the flexural modulus, tensile modulus, storage modulus and impact strength of bamboo/PLA biocomposites were considerably increased. In particular, the moduli were further increased by introducing the ground bamboo fibers. In addition, use of the ground bamboo fibers was effective to enhance the long-term water resistance of the biocomposites. The heat treatment temperature of neat PLA was improved by 16% by incorporating the bamboo fibers and the fiber grinding effect was slight. The incorporation of the ground bamboo fibers to PLA did not influence the tensile strength and impact toughness of bamboo/PLA biocomposites.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.518-525
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• 2013

To improve the mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP) biocomposites reinforced with sulfuric acidtreated green algae (SGA), SGA/graphite nanoplatelets (GNP)/PP biocomposites were prepared and their properties were evaluated depending on the particle size and content of GNP. The flexural and impact strength of SGA/GNP/PP biocomposites decreased with the addition of GNP, whereas the flexrual and storage moduli were greatly improved with increasing GNP loading. SGA/GNP/PP biocomposites reinforced with GNP5 showed generally better mechanical properties compared to that reinforced with GNP15 mainly due to the improved dispersion of the smaller GNP. SGA/GNP/PP biocomposites reinforced with GNP5 showed a lower resistance to the thermal expansion because the relatively uniform dispersion of smaller GNP was responsible for the effective heat transfer to the polymer matrix. As a result, SGA/GNP/PP biocomposite was acceptable for the general purpose application due to the improved flexural resistance, storage moduli, and damping characteristics.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.66-71
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• 2011

Biocomposites were fabricated with biodegradable polymers and natural fibers. Biocomposites have benefits of low cost, low density, and biodegradability over inorganic fiber composite, and give comparable strength properties. Hydrophobic polymer used for sizing in paper industry, AKD (Akenyl Keten Dimer), was applied to natural fibers, red algae fibers (RAF) in this study, to make fiber surfaces more compatible to hydrophobic nature of matrix polymers. Composites with RAF, kenaf, glass fibers, and carbon fibers have been fabricated by a compression molding method and their thermo-mechanical properties have been studied. Also, the thermal dimensional stability test was done from at 30 to $100^{\circ}C$. The storage moduli and the thermo-mechanical stabilities of polypropylene and poly lactic acid based biocomposites were improved by reinforcing with the RAF and much more with AKD treated fibers. Dimensional stability of biocomposite was also markedly improved by AKD pretrement on RAF.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.12-17
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• 2005

Natural fiber/phenolic biocomposites with chopped henequen fibers treated at various levels of electron beam irradiation (EBI) were made by means of a matched-die compression molding method. The interfacial property was explored in terms of interfacial shear strength measured by a single fiber microbonding test. The thermal properties were studied in terms of storage modulus, tan ${\delta}$, thermal expansion and thermal stability measured by dynamic mechanical analysis, thermomechanical analysis and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. The result showed that the interfacial and thermal properties depend on the treatment level of EBI done to the henequen fiber surfaces. The present result also demonstrates that 10 kGy EBI is most preferable to physically modify the henequen fiber surfaces and then to improve the interfacial property of the biocomposite, supporting earlier results studied with henequen/poly (butylene succinate) and henequen/unsaturated polyester biocomposites.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.9-16
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• 2004

Silk fibers were subjected to argon and ethylene plasma treatments in order to improve the interfacial adhesion with polylactic acid (PLA). After the plasma surface treatment, the surface morphology and surface adhesion of silk fibers to the PLA resin were largely changed. Various plasma treatment conditions were used in this work: 10, 25, 50, 100 and 150 W of electric power, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 minutes of treatment time, and 10 and 50 sccm of a gas flow rate. The interfacial shear strength of plasma-treated Silk/PLA biocomposites was measured by a single fiber micro-droplet debonding test method. The result provided an optimal plasma treatment condition to obtain the improved interfacial adhesion in the Silk/PLA biocomposites.

• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.106-112
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• 2009

In the present work, novel biocomposites made with biodegradable Lyocell woven fabrics and poly (butylene succinate) were successfully fabricated for the first time. Lyocell/poly(butylene succinate) biocomposites with different fiber loadings of 0, 30, 40, 50 and 60 wt% were prepared by compression molding with a sheet interleaving manner. The effect of Lyocell fabric loading on the interlaminar shear strength, tensile and flexural properties, heat deflection temperature, thermal expansion behavior, and thermal stability of the biocomposites was investigated. The properties strongly depended on the fabric loading and the results were consistent with each other. It was demonstrated that the Lyocell fabrics played a remarkable role in improving the properties of poly(butylene succinate) resin by incorporating the fabrics into the resin. The greatest inter-laminar, tensile, flexural and thermal properties of the biocomposites were obtained with Lyocell fabrics of 50% by weight.