Structural packaging foams prepared by uni-directional freezing of paper sludge cellulose nanofibres and poly (vinyl alcohol)

Abstract

Porous foams from cellulose nanofibres (CNF) and poly-vinyl alcohol CNF/PVA were prepared by uni-directional freezing to create a homogeneous pore structure. The CNF was derived from paper mills sludge (PMS), a by-product of paper manufacturing waste-water treatment. Sodium tetraborate decahydrate (borax) was used as a crosslinking agent. The density of the CNF/PVA foams were 0.03gcm-3 with a compressive strength of 116 kPa at 20% strain. The foams were competitive to commercial expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam.

Strong Tough Thermogalvanic Hydrogel Thermocell With Extraordinarily High Thermoelectric Performance

“…The hydrogels demonstrate excellent toughness ranging from 10 to 160 MJ m −3 for different ratios of the soaking solution (Figure 4H). These toughness values are significantly higher than those of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), [ 43 ] PVA hydrogels prepared using different methods (ice‐template PVA, [ 32,41 ] HA‐PVA, [ 35 ] mechanical‐stretching PVA, [ 30,42 ] and salting‐out PVA [ 34,39,40 ] ), tendons, [ 44 ] and spider silks [ 45 ] (Figure 4H, Table S1, Supporting Information).…”

“…Therefore, the strength of 0. [30,32,34,35,[39][40][41][42] and tough materials (PDMS, [43] tendons, [44] etc.) with high mechanical properties.…”

Recent development of plant-derived nanocellulose in polymer nanocomposite foams and multifunctional applications: A mini-review

“…Foam is generally prepared by dispersing gases into a liquid, solid or hydrogel using various approaches such as freeze-drying, supercritical drying, oven drying and melt-processing, and porous foam materials have a wide range of applications such as packaging, absorption and tissue engineering owing to light weight, low density and heat and sound insulation [40,[46][47][48]. Due to superior mechanical performances and size in the nanoscale, nanocellulose has attracted more attention as reinforcement to improve mechanical properties of petroleum and bio-based polymer foams such as polyurethane (PU), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), tannin and xylan [48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. Mechanical properties of foams depend on cell structure (close and open cell) and cell wall properties.…”

Towards Sustainable Buildings with Free-Form Geometries: Development and Application of Flexible NFRP in Load-Bearing Structures

“…Natural fillers with other biodegradable bioplastics have been reported. In a recent work, Adu et al (2019) developed an interesting highly strong and fully biodegradable PVA/nanocellulose biocomposite by an innovative freezing method, though the scaling and cost evaluation of this manufacturing system should be analysed. Moreover, Bocz et al (2016) studied PLA biocomposites foams with cellulose and basalt fibres as fillers using supercritical CO 2 as foaming agent, obtaining highly expanded materials with increased crystallinity than neat PLA foams.…”