Development of turkey feather fiber-filled thermoplastic polyurethane composites: Thermal, mechanical, water-uptake, and morphological characterizations

Abstract

This present study centers sensitively on the determination of the effect of natural turkey feather fibers (TFFs) loading on fundamental features (thermal, mechanical, water-uptake, and micro-structural) of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). The composites with different TFFs contents (3, 6, 9, and 12 wt.%) were fabricated by the melt blending method using the twin screw extruder and micro-injection molder. The samples were characterized by means of differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), universal mechanical (tensile and hardness) tester, water-uptake, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The thermal analysis depicted that the melting temperatures of the soft and hard segments as well as the crystallinity degree of TPU increased consistently with the increase of TFFs loading level thanks to the formation of better close-packed TPU chains in the matrices. As for the mechanical test results, when compared neat TPU, the tensile strengths were reinforced by 26.8% and 19.7%, and the modulus increased by 6.6% and 45.1% for the composite samples including 3% and 6% of TFFs, respectively. However, drastic diminishment were observed at further contents. Additionally, TFFs loadings brought about gradual increase in the water-uptake capacities of the composites due to the increasing of the number of voids and omnipresent flaws in TPU matrices. The taken SEM images also revealed that, at low contents, there existed the enrichment of interfacial adhesion between TFFs and TPU matrix, whereas the morphological appearance of the composites get worse at high contents accompanied by the formation of micro-structural defects.

Investigation of mechanical, physicochemical, and thermal properties of new fiber from Silybum marianum bark fiber

“…[13][14][15] Other studies focusing on the insulation and mechanical reinforcement of some polymer by using natural fiber. [16][17][18] Various studies have been carried out on the characterization of new cellulosic fibers, which aim to incorporate it into bio-composites. Notably, Gurukarthik Babu et al 19 characterized a new natural fiber from various parts of Phaseolus vulgaris plants.…”

The effect of phosphorus based flame retardants on the thermal and fire retardant properties of chicken feather/thermoplastic polyurethane biocomposites

“…Accordingly, feather and/or modi ed keratin-based materials are considered as promising additives in ame retardant applications [8][9][10]. In the literature, the mechanical and thermal properties of feather containing composites are investigated with various matrix materials including TPU [11][12][13][14]. However, the re retardant performance of CF containing TPU composites is not studied.…”

Investigation of the relation between free volume and physico-mechanical performance in rigid polyurethane foam containing turkey feather fibers: Part 2

“…This may be caused by the comb-like microstructure of TFFs bearing the hook-lets. 75 Namely, these hooks at terminal position of barbules existing at the turkey feather fibers may served as a bridge connecting two closed cells in the foam matrix, which causes that the foam samples broke immediately by resisting the elongation, as depicted in Figure 3. Thus, a constantly falling in the extension behavior were obtained in the final foam products.

Figure 3.Representative diagrams of extension behavior of TFFs-filled RPUFs during the tensile tests.

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“…Moreover, existence of relatively higher amount of TFFs in the RPUF matrices caused that the load energy generated from the impact load absorbed relatively easily thanks to two dimensional comb-like micro-appearance and entanglement of barbs in TFFs that was composed of keratin with α-helix structures. 75 Furthermore, as depicted in Figure 3, the hook-lets in TFFs might act as connection points providing the energy distribution throughout RPUF matrix. This meant that the foam samples showed relatively higher impact strengths with more influential delocalization.…”