Biodegradable plant nursery containers from leather industry wastes

Abstract

Novel biodegradable polymeric materials based on protein hydrolysate (Pr.Hyd), derived from waste products of the leather industry, and poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEG) or epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) are obtained and their physico‐chemical properties and mechanical behaviour are evaluated. Different processing conditions and the introduction of fillers of natural origin, as saw dust and wood flour, are used to tailor the mechanical properties and the environmental durability of the product. The biodegradable products, which are almost completely manufactured from renewable‐based raw materials, look promising for several applications, particularly in agriculture for the additional fertilizing action of Pr.Hyd. To this purpose, tests are carried out to prove the feasibility of novel biodegradable pots and containers by investigating their functionality, their physico‐chemical and mechanical behaviour in standard and controlled experimental field conditions, and to follow the assessment of their biodegradation process during plants cultivation in the soil. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2743–2750, 2018. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

Rational Design and Development of Anisotropic and Mechanically Strong Gelatin‐Based Stress Relaxing Hydrogels for Osteogenic/Chondrogenic Differentiation

“…According to our previous work, a weight ratio of about 4:1 for G/PEG system (G:PEG = 4:1) showed a modification of G containing about 40% amino‐groups, evaluated by colorimetric assays . Starting from this data, we performed a set of preliminary tests to identify the minimum amount of PEG required to obtain stable hybrid hydrogels under the present experimental conditions.…”

Physico‐mechanical, thermal, and ultraviolet light barrier properties of collagen hydrolysate films from leather solid wastes incorporated with nano TiO2

“…As well as ecological awareness of society, the difficulty of finding new landfills and the increase in dumping charges have led to a steady increase in demand for the management of these wastes . However, solid waste from leather processing can be valorized as CH, and the marketability of this CH with a potential application could encourage the leather industry to recycle them instead of dumping them into landfills …”

“…Nevertheless, practical limitations in the use of CH as a packaging material are strongly limited due to the low mechanical, water vapor barrier properties, and high water solubility . For this reason, research efforts have been focused on polymer blending and reinforcing polymer matrix with organic and inorganic fillers for the improvement of mechanical and barrier properties of films …”

“…[4,8,12,13] However, solid waste from leather processing can be valorized as CH, and the marketability of this CH with a potential application could encourage the leather industry to recycle them instead of dumping them into landfills. [7,8,[14][15][16] Non-biodegradable fossil fuel-derived plastics have been increasingly used as packaging materials because of their economic comparisons with renewable polymers. [17,18] However, the fossil fuel-based polymers have created greater environmental concern, and limited availability of petroleum resources have driven packaging researchers to investigate the properties of biodegradable polymers based on renewable resource for packaging materials.…”

“…[20,22,27] For this reason, research efforts have been focused on polymer blending and reinforcing polymer matrix with organic and inorganic fillers for the improvement of mechanical and barrier properties of films. [16,20,22,28] Nanotechnology has become the leading technology for the improvement of advanced materials since the last decade. [23,29] Extensive research has been carried out in the area of polymer nanocomposite films containing dispersion of nano-scale reinforcing fillers in the polymer matrix to improve the barrier, physico-chemical, mechanical, and thermal properties of polymers.…”