Poly-lactic-acid is a biopolymer that can be an attractive alternative to replace petroleum-based polymers. It has advanced mechanical properties, melts easily with less energy consumption, and can be used to produce biodegradable plastics using renewable sources. However, some of the properties of poly-lactic-acid are inferior to those of traditional polymers: e.g., intensive farming is necessary for high agricultural yield, the composting needs special conditions, it is difficult to blend with other commonly used plastics, expensive, high permeability, etc. Therefore, the present work seeks to improve the structure and mechanical properties of the poly-lactic-acid incorporated by cellulose nano-fibers obtained from rice straw by a chemical acidic treatment. The fibers were incorporated into the poly-lactic-acid polymer matrix in a concentration of 1% by two-roll mill. To improve the incorporation of the fibers in the matrix, different coupling agents were used: PE-g-MA, vinyl trimethoxy silane, polyethylene-glycol with different molecular weight, and two types of experimentally synthetized α-olefin-maleic anhydride-based copolymers. The properties of the final composite could be improved, however those depend on the coupling agent to be used. The improving effect of the tested chemicals had been depended on the temperature. Based on structure analysis, both chemical and physical interactions were proposed between the cellulose nanofiber and polymer matrix. The thermogravimetric and viscosity results well represented the softener effect of the used chemical agents.

This paper focuses on the pyrolysis of animal manure in a laboratory-scale tubular reactor between 300 and 900°C at nitrogen flow rates of 1 and 5 dm3/h. During the experiments, it was found that both the temperature and nitrogen flow rate had significant effects on the product yields and compositions. The highest gas yield and syngas content were observed at 900°C at a nitrogen flow rate of 1 dm3/h. In this case, since the gaseous product was characterized by a H2/CO ratio of 0:5, its quality must be improved prior to being used for synthesis. The composition of the solid residue was also affected by the pyrolysis parameters. Based on the hydrogen/carbon and oxygen/carbon ratios, it was concluded that both the water-gas shift and Boudouard reactions were the most critical.