Degradation in the mechanical and thermo-mechanical properties of natural fiber filled polymer composites due to recycling

Influence of chemical modification of kenaf fiber on xGNP-PP nano-biocomposites

“…Hence, property improvements in the materials are ascribed to physical interactions between xGNPs and other components in addition to chemical modification of treated kenaf nanocomposites which enhanced interfacial adhesion between matrix, xGNP sheets and microfiber. Similar observations were also reported elsewhere [1,5,15]. The peak at 1162.5 cm −1 is ascribed to C-H outer bending vibration, and in-plane bending and out-of-plane wagging [16], while the peak absorptions at 1382.4 cm −1 is ascribed to the medium C-H rock vibrations of alkanes [17].…”

“…These carbon nanomaterials have several grades and sizes with thickness and width ranging from "1-20 nm" and "1-50 microns respectively" [4]. Thus, recently the scope of nano-engineering has expanded with industrial application of nanotechnology extended to areas such as energy storage, computing, biomedical, drug delivery and so on [5]. Graphene is a hexagonally packed lattice single layer sp 2 bonded carbon atoms, having a structure exhibiting interesting properties such as excellent thermal conductivity (3000-5000 Wm −1 K −1 ) and optical transparency (~ 97.3%), high young modulus (~ 1 TPa), and high transport mobility at 25 °C (~ 10,000 cm 2 v −1 S −1 ).…”

“…The platelet morphology of xGNP and its nano-size enhances its effectiveness at providing very good properties, while its inherent pure graphitic composition enhances its thermal and electrical conductivity. Other interesting properties of xGNP include wide surface area, high aspect ratio, superior mechanical and flame retardant properties [5,6]. However, emerging researches have revealed that low inclusion of xGNP, other carbon derivatives and nanofillers into plastics has resulted in fabrication of polymer nanocomposites with superior mechanical, thermal and flame retardant properties [7].…”

“…Also, inclusion of stiff nanoparticles reduced tensile strength of nanocomposites[1]. Thus, improvement of tensile strength at low fibre-xGNP inclusion occurred because tensile strength of composites is mainly determined by filler-fraction and the compatibility/or interfacial adhesion between the matrix, micro-natural-fiber fillers and nanoparticles[1,3,5].…”

How to manage biocomposites wastes end of life? A life cycle assessment approach (LCA) focused on polypropylene (PP)/wood flour and polylactic acid (PLA)/flax fibres biocomposites

“…Mechanical recycling of biocomposites, which consists in producing a new material by extrusion after some steps of washing, shredding and sorting, is nowadays studied (Le Duigou et al, 2008;Soccalingame et al, 2015aSoccalingame et al, , 2015bSrebrenkoska et al, 2008). Most of times, recycling lead to a decrease of the mechanical properties, sometimes due to fibres shortened during processes (Bensadoun et al, 2016;Bhattacharjee and Bajwa, 2018). For PLA-based composites, composting has also been investigated (Bayerl et al, 2014;Othman et al, 2012;Pradhan et al, 2010), the presence of natural biomass improve the degradation of the material.…”