Mechanical, Thermal, Morphological, and Biodegradable Studies of Okra Cellulosic Fiber Reinforced Starch‐Based Biocomposites

Abstract

ABSTRACT:The aim of present work is to study the behavior of completely biodegradable starch-based composites containing okra cellulosic fibers in the range from 5 to 25 wt%. The cornstarch matrix and composites were prepared by using urea-formaldehyde as a cross-linking agent. The cross-linked cornstarch matrix and its composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. Furthermore, thermal and different mechanical properties, i.e., tensile, compressive, and flexural strength of composites, were also studied. The thermal stability of fiber-reinforced composite was increased as compared to starch matrix. The mechanical properties of composite such as tensile, compressive, and flexural have been found to increase with the increase in fiber content up to 15% loading. The composite specimens tested for tensile, compressive, and flexural strength at 15% fiber loading exhibited values of 17.78 ± 0.89, 33.55 ± 1.67 and 60.1 ± 3.01 MPa, respectively. Furthermore, the matrix and composites were subjected to biodegradation studies through the soil burial method. C 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Technol 2016, 0, 21646; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.

Structure-properties relationships in alkaline treated rice husk reinforced thermoplastic cassava starch biocomposites

“…To that end, particular emphasis is given to natural fiber-reinforced degradable matrices, such as poly(lactic acid), poly(butylene succinate), polyhydroxybutyrate, and thermoplastic starch [2]. A range of starch-based biodegradable polymer composites have been investigated including okra-cellulosic fiber/corn starch [3], kenaf/starch [4], laver/starch [5], untreated bagasse/cassava starch [6], treated bagasse/cassava starch [7], luffa/cassava starch [8], cellulose fiber derived from newspaper/corn starch [9], wood fiber/potato starch [10], and almond shell/starch-based polymer composites [11].…”

Preparation and characterization of natural corn starch-based composite films reinforced by eggshell powder

“…The soil burial method was used to study the biodegradability of starch films. (Bootklad & Kaewtatip, 2013;Guleria, Singha, & Rana, 2018) The samples of films (dimensions 10 mm× 10 mm× 1.5 mm) were buried in natural soil at a depth of 7 cm in Changchun, China. The temperature was maintained at 23 ± 5°C, and the relative humidity (RH) was kept in the range of 40-50%.…”

Hybrid mathematical modeling and multi‐objective optimization of mechanical properties of green composites based on starch and modified rice straw fillers

“…Mercerization modification is another chemical treatment of lignocellulosic fibers that has been applied by Guleria et al in 2017, to obtain the biocomposites based on corn starch matrix. The addition of mercerized lignocellulosic fibers to starch resulted in an enhancement in tensile, flexural and compression strength of the biocomposites 8 . Kargarzadeh et al in 2017 have shown that load transfer efficiency from cassava starch matrix to reinforcing fibers improves by the chemical modification of lignocellulosic fibers, owing to better matrix/filler adhesion caused by the removal of non‐cellulosic constituents of lignocellulosic fibers 9 .…”