• Advanced Composite Materials
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.167-185
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• 2009

Environmental problems caused by extensive use of polymeric materials arise mainly due to lack of landfill space and depletion of finite natural resources of fossil raw materials like petroleum or natural gas. The substitution of synthetic petroleum-based resins with natural biodegradable resins appears to be one appropriate measure to remedy the above-mentioned situation. This study presents the development of a composite that uses environmentally degradable starch-based resin as matrix and natural mineral basalt fibres as reinforcement, and investigates the fibre's and the composite's mechanical properties. The tensile strength of single basalt fibres was verified by means of single fibre tensile tests and statistically investigated by means of a Weibull analysis. Prepreg sheets were manufactured by means of a modified doctor blade system and hot power press. The sheets were used to manufacture specimens with fibre volume contents ranging from 33% to 61%. Specimens were tested for tensile strength, flexural strength and interlaminar shear strength. Composites manufactured during this study exhibited tensile and flexural strength of up to 517 MPa and 157 MPa, respectively.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.30-40
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• 2009

Statistical optimization of the production medium was carried out in order to find an optimal medium composition in itaconic acid fermentation process. Itaconic acid utilized in the manufacture of various synthetic resins is a dicarboxylic acid biosynthesized by fungal cells of Aspergillus terreus in a branch of the TCA cycle via decarboxylation of cis-aconitate. Through OFAT (one factor at a time) experiments, six components (glucose, fructose, sucrose, soluble starch, soybean meal and cottonseed flour) were found to have significant effects on itaconic production among various carbon- and nitrogen-sources. Hence, using these six factors, interactive effects were investigated via fractional factorial design, showing that the initial concentrations of sucrose and cottonseed flour should be high for enhanced production of itaconic acid. Furthermore, through full factorial design (FFD) experiments, negative effects of $KH_2PO_4$ and $MgSO_4$ on itaconic acid biosynthesis were demonstrated, when excess amounts of the each component were initially added. Based on the FFD analysis, further statistical experiments were conducted along the steepest ascent path, followed by response surface method (RSM) in order to obtain optimal concentrations of the constituent nutrients. As a result, optimized concentrations of sucrose and cottonseed flour were found to be 90.4g/L and 53.8g/L respectively, with the corresponding production level of itaconic acid to be 4.36 g/L (about 7 fold higher productivity as compared to the previous production medium). From these experimental results, it was assumed that optimum ratio of the constituent carbon (sucrose) and nitrogen (cottonseed flour) sources was one of the most important factors for the enhanced production of itaconic acid.