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Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite

Natural fiber/plastic composites combine the low density and excellent mechanical properties of the natural fiber with the flexibility and moisture resistance of the plastic to create materials tailored to specific applications in theory. Wood/plastic composites (WPC) are the most common products, b...

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Autores principales: Li, Xiaoping, Qiang, Mingli, Yang, Mingwei, Morrell, Jeffrey J., Zhang, Neng
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8585399/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34771909
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14216384
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author Li, Xiaoping
Qiang, Mingli
Yang, Mingwei
Morrell, Jeffrey J.
Zhang, Neng
author_facet Li, Xiaoping
Qiang, Mingli
Yang, Mingwei
Morrell, Jeffrey J.
Zhang, Neng
author_sort Li, Xiaoping
collection PubMed
description Natural fiber/plastic composites combine the low density and excellent mechanical properties of the natural fiber with the flexibility and moisture resistance of the plastic to create materials tailored to specific applications in theory. Wood/plastic composites (WPC) are the most common products, but many other fibers are being explored for this purpose. Among the more common is hemp hurd. Natural fibers are hydrophilic materials and plastics are hydrophobic, therefore one problem with all of these products is the limited ability of the fiber to interact with the plastic to create a true composite. Thus, compatibilizers are often added to enhance interactions, but fiber pretreatments may also help improve compatibility. The effects of pectinase or cellulase pretreatment of wood/hemp fiber mixtures in combination with coupling agents were evaluated in polypropylene panels. Pretreatments with pectinase or cellulase were associated with reduced thickness swell (TS(24h)) as well as increased modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity. Incorporation of 5.0% silane or 2.5% silane/2.5% titanate as a coupling agent further improved pectinase-treated panel properties, but was associated with diminished properties in cellulase treated fibers. Combinations of enzymatic pretreatment and coupling agents enhanced fiber/plastic interactions and improved flexural properties, but the effects varied with the enzyme or coupling agent employed. The results illustrate the potential for enhancing fiber/plastic interactions to produce improved composites.
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spelling pubmed-85853992021-11-12 Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite Li, Xiaoping Qiang, Mingli Yang, Mingwei Morrell, Jeffrey J. Zhang, Neng Materials (Basel) Article Natural fiber/plastic composites combine the low density and excellent mechanical properties of the natural fiber with the flexibility and moisture resistance of the plastic to create materials tailored to specific applications in theory. Wood/plastic composites (WPC) are the most common products, but many other fibers are being explored for this purpose. Among the more common is hemp hurd. Natural fibers are hydrophilic materials and plastics are hydrophobic, therefore one problem with all of these products is the limited ability of the fiber to interact with the plastic to create a true composite. Thus, compatibilizers are often added to enhance interactions, but fiber pretreatments may also help improve compatibility. The effects of pectinase or cellulase pretreatment of wood/hemp fiber mixtures in combination with coupling agents were evaluated in polypropylene panels. Pretreatments with pectinase or cellulase were associated with reduced thickness swell (TS(24h)) as well as increased modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity. Incorporation of 5.0% silane or 2.5% silane/2.5% titanate as a coupling agent further improved pectinase-treated panel properties, but was associated with diminished properties in cellulase treated fibers. Combinations of enzymatic pretreatment and coupling agents enhanced fiber/plastic interactions and improved flexural properties, but the effects varied with the enzyme or coupling agent employed. The results illustrate the potential for enhancing fiber/plastic interactions to produce improved composites. MDPI 2021-10-25 /pmc/articles/PMC8585399/ /pubmed/34771909 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14216384 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Li, Xiaoping
Qiang, Mingli
Yang, Mingwei
Morrell, Jeffrey J.
Zhang, Neng
Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title_full Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title_fullStr Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title_full_unstemmed Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title_short Combining Fiber Enzymatic Pretreatments and Coupling Agents to Improve Physical and Mechanical Properties of Hemp Hurd/Wood/Polypropylene Composite
title_sort combining fiber enzymatic pretreatments and coupling agents to improve physical and mechanical properties of hemp hurd/wood/polypropylene composite
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8585399/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34771909
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ma14216384
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