Cellulose and Paper Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth St. (Former El Tahrir St.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza, Egypt.
Polymers and Pigments Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth St. (Former El Tahrir St.), Dokki, P.O. 12622, Giza, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 10;12(1):19197. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-21705-3.
This study deals with the production of natural fiber plastic composites (NFPCs) to reduce environmental pollution with agricultural and plastic waste. Where the NFPCs were prepared from waste/pure polyethylene (WPE) (pure polyethylene (50%)/recycled polyethylene (50%)) and modified sunflower waste via an eco-friendly and economic biological process. The sunflower fibers (SF) were treated via whole selective fungal isolate, namely, Rhizopus oryzae (acc no. OM912662) using two different incubation conditions; submerged (Sub), and solid-state fermentation (SSF) to enhance the fibers' compatibility with WPE. The treated and untreated fibers were added to WPE with various concentrations (10 and 20 wt%). The morphology and structure of fibers were characterised by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR). Furthermore, the mechanical properties, morphology, biodegradation and water vapour transmission rate (WVTR) for the prepared NFPCs were investigated. The results showed that compatibility, mechanical properties and biodegradation of NFPCs were improved by the addition of sunflower fibers treated by SSF conditions.
本研究致力于生产天然纤维塑料复合材料 (NFPCs)，以减少农业和塑料废物对环境的污染。其中，NFPCs 是由废物/纯聚乙烯 (WPE)（纯聚乙烯 (50%)/回收聚乙烯 (50%)) 和改性向日葵废物通过环保且经济的生物工艺制备而成。向日葵纤维 (SF) 通过全选择性真菌分离物，即米根霉（acc no. OM912662），使用两种不同的培养条件； 浸没（Sub）和固态发酵（SSF）来提高纤维与 WPE 的相容性。处理和未处理的纤维以不同浓度（10 和 20wt%）添加到 WPE 中。纤维的形态和结构通过扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和衰减全反射傅里叶变换红外 (ATR-FTIR) 进行表征。此外，还研究了制备的 NFPCs 的力学性能、形态、生物降解性和水蒸气透过率 (WVTR)。结果表明，通过添加 SSF 条件处理的向日葵纤维，可以提高 NFPCs 的相容性、力学性能和生物降解性。
