Cellulose has a potential to become a key resource in the development of biodegradable film composites. In this work, cellulose was modified by using 2-(Trifluromethyl)benzoylchloride by base-catalyzed reaction. Modification of cellulose was confirmed by IR studies. The biodegradable composite films were developed by film casting method using modified cellulose with Poly(vinyl alcohol) in different compositions. The film composites were characterized by mechanical, moisture absorption, gas barrier, and biodegradable properties. Obtained films have shown transparency and flexibility and displayed good mechanical properties. Film composites also showed good biodegradability. Better barrier properties showed by film composites as the percentage of modified cellulose increased. This indicates the importance of modified cellulose as a reinforcing agent. After evaluating these properties of film composites, we came to conclusion that these biocomposites can be used to membrane and packaging applications.

Tunable ac conductivity of 2 wt% GO doped PVA with applied pressures and TEM image of graphene oxide.

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The present work aimed to analyze the roll of carbon nano tubes and graphene nano fillers on the mechanical and thermal characteristics of hollow glass microsphere reinforced epoxy composites. Composites with varying content of hollow glass microballoons (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 wt %) reinforced in epoxy matrix were fabricated. Additionally, two more types of composites, one with graphene nano fillers and the other with carbon nano tube at a constant 0.5 wt %, were fabricated with varying weight percentages of hollow glass microballoons (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%). The composites were fabricated using an open mold casting process. Composites were tested for thermal and mechanical properties. The tensile and flexural moduli were found to rise as the HGM concentration increased. Graphene-filled HGM/epoxy composites revealed the highest modulus compared with HGM/epoxy and HGM/CNT/epoxy composites. The impact strength of all composite types decreased as the HGM content increased. Neat epoxy specimens revealed low response as compared with all the composites tested. Further, the thermal conductivity of HGM/epoxy composites was lower as compared with other compositions and neat epoxy. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the surface morphological behavior of the composites subjected to flexural test. It was found that HGM/G/E composites with 10% of HGM and 0.5% of graphene by weight in epoxy matrix were the optimum.

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