Ogunbiyi Olugbenga, Gbenebor Oluwashina, Salifu Smith, Olaleye Samuel, Jamiru Tamba, Sadiku Rotimi, Adeosun Samson
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos 101017, Nigeria.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Sep 26;15(19):6676. doi: 10.3390/ma15196676.
Environmental conservation and waste control have informed and encouraged the use of biodegradable polymeric materials over synthetic non-biodegradable materials. It has been recognized that nano-sized biodegradable materials possess relatively good properties as compared to conventional micron-sized materials. However, the strength characteristics of these materials are inferior to fossil-based non-biodegradable materials. In this study, biodegradable polylactide (PLA), reinforced with treated coconut husk particulates (CCP) for improved mechanical properties, was fabricated using an electrospinning process and representative volume element (RVE) technique, and some of the obtained mechanical properties were compared. It was observed that the electrospun CCP-PLA nanofibre composites show improved mechanical properties, and some of these mechanical properties using both techniques compared favourably well. The electrospun fibres demonstrate superior properties, mostly at 4 wt.% reinforcement. Thus, achieving good mechanical properties utilising agro waste as reinforcement in PLA to manufacture nanocomposite materials by electrospinning method is feasible and provides insight into the development of biodegradable nanocomposite materials.
环境保护和废物控制促使并鼓励使用可生物降解的聚合材料而非合成的不可生物降解材料。人们已经认识到，与传统的微米级材料相比，纳米级可生物降解材料具有相对良好的性能。然而，这些材料的强度特性不如基于化石的不可生物降解材料。在本研究中，采用静电纺丝工艺和代表性体积单元（RVE）技术制备了用经处理的椰壳颗粒（CCP）增强以改善机械性能的可生物降解聚乳酸（PLA），并对一些获得的机械性能进行了比较。观察到静电纺丝的CCP-PLA纳米纤维复合材料显示出改善的机械性能，并且使用这两种技术得到的一些机械性能相当良好。静电纺丝纤维表现出优异的性能，大多在增强剂含量为4 wt.%时。因此，利用农业废弃物作为PLA的增强剂通过静电纺丝法制造纳米复合材料以实现良好的机械性能是可行的，并为可生物降解纳米复合材料的开发提供了思路。
