Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers
An option to reduce the exploitation and depletion of natural mineral resources is to repurpose current waste materials. Fillers are often added to polymers to improve the properties and lower the overall cost of the final product. Very few studies have assessed the use of waste brown eggshell powde...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Waste |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/3/44 |
| _version_ | 1797576377135792128 |
|---|---|
| author | Duncan Cree Stephen Owuamanam Majid Soleimani |
| author_facet | Duncan Cree Stephen Owuamanam Majid Soleimani |
| author_sort | Duncan Cree |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An option to reduce the exploitation and depletion of natural mineral resources is to repurpose current waste materials. Fillers are often added to polymers to improve the properties and lower the overall cost of the final product. Very few studies have assessed the use of waste brown eggshell powder (BESP) as filler in polylactic acid (PLA). The addition of mineral fillers in a polymer matrix can play an important role in the performance of a composite under load. Therefore, tailoring the amount of filler content can be a deciding factor as to which filler amount is best. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of brown eggshells compared to conventional limestone (LS) powder on the mechanical properties of PLA composites. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to carry out the statistical analysis on the average values of each composite mechanical property tested. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to view if there were any differences in the fractured surfaces. Overall, the LS performed marginally better than the BESP fillers. The highest ultimate tensile and ultimate flexural strengths for eggshell composites containing 32 µm fillers had values of 48 MPa (5–10 wt.% BESP) and 67 MPa (10 wt.%. BESP), respectively. Both the tensile and flexural modulus improved with filler contents and were highest at 20 wt.% with values of 4.5 GPa and 3.4 GPa, respectively. The Charpy impact strength decreased for all filler amounts. SEM micrographs identified changes in the fractured surfaces due to the additions of the filler materials. The ANOVA results showed statistically significant differences for the composite materials. After five weeks of soaking in distilled water, the composites containing 20 wt.% BESP fillers had the highest weight gain. The study demonstrated that waste brown eggshells in powdered form can be used as a filler in PLA composites. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:51:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-374bb01acd794467923e831176b09ac3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2813-0391 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:51:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Waste |
| spelling | doaj.art-374bb01acd794467923e831176b09ac32023-11-19T13:24:41ZengMDPI AGWaste2813-03912023-09-011374076010.3390/waste1030044Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste FillersDuncan Cree0Stephen Owuamanam1Majid Soleimani2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, CanadaAn option to reduce the exploitation and depletion of natural mineral resources is to repurpose current waste materials. Fillers are often added to polymers to improve the properties and lower the overall cost of the final product. Very few studies have assessed the use of waste brown eggshell powder (BESP) as filler in polylactic acid (PLA). The addition of mineral fillers in a polymer matrix can play an important role in the performance of a composite under load. Therefore, tailoring the amount of filler content can be a deciding factor as to which filler amount is best. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of brown eggshells compared to conventional limestone (LS) powder on the mechanical properties of PLA composites. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to carry out the statistical analysis on the average values of each composite mechanical property tested. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to view if there were any differences in the fractured surfaces. Overall, the LS performed marginally better than the BESP fillers. The highest ultimate tensile and ultimate flexural strengths for eggshell composites containing 32 µm fillers had values of 48 MPa (5–10 wt.% BESP) and 67 MPa (10 wt.%. BESP), respectively. Both the tensile and flexural modulus improved with filler contents and were highest at 20 wt.% with values of 4.5 GPa and 3.4 GPa, respectively. The Charpy impact strength decreased for all filler amounts. SEM micrographs identified changes in the fractured surfaces due to the additions of the filler materials. The ANOVA results showed statistically significant differences for the composite materials. After five weeks of soaking in distilled water, the composites containing 20 wt.% BESP fillers had the highest weight gain. The study demonstrated that waste brown eggshells in powdered form can be used as a filler in PLA composites.https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/3/44conventional limestonewaste brown eggshellspolylactic acidmechanical propertiesbio-composite |
| spellingShingle | Duncan Cree Stephen Owuamanam Majid Soleimani Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers Waste conventional limestone waste brown eggshells polylactic acid mechanical properties bio-composite |
| title | Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers |
| title_full | Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers |
| title_fullStr | Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers |
| title_short | Mechanical Properties of a Bio-Composite Produced from Two Biomaterials: Polylactic Acid and Brown Eggshell Waste Fillers |
| title_sort | mechanical properties of a bio composite produced from two biomaterials polylactic acid and brown eggshell waste fillers |
| topic | conventional limestone waste brown eggshells polylactic acid mechanical properties bio-composite |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2813-0391/1/3/44 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT duncancree mechanicalpropertiesofabiocompositeproducedfromtwobiomaterialspolylacticacidandbrowneggshellwastefillers AT stephenowuamanam mechanicalpropertiesofabiocompositeproducedfromtwobiomaterialspolylacticacidandbrowneggshellwastefillers AT majidsoleimani mechanicalpropertiesofabiocompositeproducedfromtwobiomaterialspolylacticacidandbrowneggshellwastefillers |