The growing ecological and environmental consciousness has driven efforts for development of new innovative materials for various end-use applications. Polymers synthesized from natural resources, ...have gained considerable research interest in the recent years. This review paper is intended to provide a brief outline of work that covers in the area of biocomposites, major class of biodegradable polymers, natural fibres, as well as their manufacturing techniques and properties has been highlighted. Various surface modification methods were incorporated to improve the fibre–matrix adhesion resulting in the enhancement of mechanical properties of the biocomposites. Moreover, an economical impact and future direction of these materials has been critically reviewed. This review concludes that the biocomposites form one of the emerging areas in polymer science that gain attention for use in various applications ranging from automobile to the building industries.
Currently, diabetes mellitus (DM) accelerated diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) remains vivacious health problem related with delayed healing and high amputation rates which leads to enormous clinical ...obligation. Keeping in view of the foregoing, researchers have been made in their efforts to develop novel materials which accelerate delayed wound healing in the diabetic patient and reduce the adversative influences of DFUs. The most prominent materials used for the wound healing application have biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, excellent biodegradable properties, and antimicrobial activity properties. Utilization of nanoparticles has emerged as a protruding scientific and technological revolution in controlling DFUs. Biopolymers in combination with bioactive nanoparticles having antimicrobial, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties have great potential in wound care to enhance the healing process of diabetic wound infectious. Combination of antibacterial nanoparticles like silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) etc. with polymeric matrix could efficiently inhibit bacterial growth and at the same time fastens the healing process of a wound. This review briefed the recent development of different natural polymers and antibacterial nanoparticles to mitigate the diabetes mellitus based DFU.
In recent years, the worldwide coating industries and scientific communities have introduced superhydrophobic coatings with exceptional water repellency for marine, automotive, and medical ...applications. Various research works has been devoted to creating a superhydrophobic surface. This review attempts to highlight the recent development and technical breakthrough on superhydrophobic coatings and its potential application in various fields. Moreover, emphasis has also been on providing insight regarding the recent development in superhydrophobic coatings using nanotechnology focusing both on novel preparation strategies and on investigations of their distinctive properties.
The uncertain climatic changes-related issues in the recent times has led an apprehension for all automotive makers to develop innovative composite materials to reduce vehicle’s fuel consumption. ...Hence, this review article has given special attention toward the factors that motivated several automakers to undergo research on biocomposites as it plays an important role for biodegradability and sustainability across the globe. In particular, cellulose nanofibers-reinforced composites are the main research focus in the current scenario which can be applied for different automotive applications with numerous advantages and abundant accessibility. Polypropylene (PP) is the emerging polymer in the automotive industry, and many researchers are now mainly focusing their research on PP-based composites which can serve as a boon for different environmental problems faced by the current scenario as depicted by Figure 1. It also reported the recent advancement on the development of innovative composite materials by different automakers with regard to finding suitable actions for reduction of fuel consumption to the recommended confines.
The petroleum based diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy resin is one of the most extensively used epoxy resins for various industrial applications such as paints, coatings, adhesives, and ...structural applications, owing to its excellent mechanical and thermal properties, low curing shrinkage, and good chemical resistance. However, the serious drawbacks in terms of brittleness or poor fracture energy significantly restricted its extensive utilization. Various renewable resources based flexible chains were used to blend with DGEBA for toughening and to significantly improve the fracture properties without sacrificing the mechanical properties. This review mainly focuses on toughening of DGEBA with various renewable polymers and the effect of its concentration on its toughening mechanism.
The present study focuses on the isolation and characterization of the cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from the pineapple peel waste (PPW) (agro‐waste) and sisal fiber (SiF) (natural fiber) employing ...the acid hydrolysis method, and its comparison with the commercially available CNCs (CNC‐C). Furthermore, the CNCs from PPW, SiF, and CNC‐C were subjected to transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, particle size distribution, and zeta potential analysis. The studied properties of the isolated CNCs are considerably different from the PPW and SiF. The CNCs so formed have been estimated by TEM to be around 10–40 nm wide and length of several micrometers. Fourier transform electron microscopy studies described the removal of the noncellulosic components like lignin, hemicellulose, and pectin substances from the base materials in both the cases by employing acid hydrolysis method. Additionally, nanocomposites of CNC isolated from PPW along with polypropylene (PP) matrix were fabricated using melt blending method followed by injection molding. Maleic anhydride grafted PP (MAPP) acts as a compatibilizer for improving the dispersibility of hydrophilic CNC within the nonpolar PP matrix. The addition of CNC (3 wt%) along with MAPP at 5 wt% showed optimum tensile strength and modulus to the tune of 10.39 and 25.53%, respectively, when compared to their counterparts without MAPP. Dynamic mechanical analysis revealed an increased stiffness of PP in its nanocomposite system due to the addition of CNC. Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed uniform distribution of CNC within the nonpolar PP matrix in the presence of MAPP.
Composites have become preferred material for weight reduction in automobile. Hybrid composite materials are used in many engineering applications for their versatile properties like lightweight, ...strength to weight ratio, low cost, ease of structure development and high strength. Automobile industry utilizes composites and hybrid composites in many of the interior and exterior applications. Considering ease of manufacturing methods under the wider choice of fabrication techniques, hybrid composites are developed wherever it can contribute for the enhancement of functional requirement simply by replacing the existing materials. Hybrid composites made from blending of natural and synthetic fibers in a polymer matrix show synergistic effect on properties which cannot be achieved from normal composites. In this paper, hybrid composites and especially its types, diversity of properties and possible material combinations are reviewed in detail. The development of a various type of hybrid composites in automotive applications such as in automotive piston application, brake friction material for medium duty automotive application, development of eco-friendly automotive anti-roll bar and low-velocity impact response of hybrid carbon/glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites are also reviewed in detail.
With the ever‐increasing depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuel reserve, greater attention has been directed towards renewable energy storage devices. One of the most important of such devices is the ...supercapacitor, which exhibits high specific capacitance. Polyaniline (PAni) is a versatile conducting polymer, which has demonstrated excellent electrochemical properties along with good stability and ease of synthesis. Therefore, PAni has been extensively used in the fabrication of supercapacitors. In the last few decades, researchers have studied the effect of morphology, developed during the synthesis of PAni, on its electrochemical properties. It is known that the electrical conductivity and the electrochemical properties of PAni get influenced by the level and type of dopant used, the method of synthesis adopted, and the surface area and porosity possessed. However, it has been realized that supercapacitors based on PAni suffer from short cycle life. This led to development of PAni composites with carbon‐based materials and transition metal oxides. In this review, focus has been laid on the achieved performance levels of the recently developed PAni‐based supercapacitors. In addition, an attempt has been made to study the fundamental aspects of the conductivity and the electrochemical properties of PAni and their effect on the supercapacitor performance. Moreover, several new interesting applications of PAni‐based supercapacitors have also been included in this review.
Polyurethane foams (PUFs) are widely used materials because of their wide range of applications, particularly, thermal and sound insulation, mattresses, furniture, construction, cushioning, ...packaging, transportation of goods, etc. Recently, commercial PUF products fabricated from plant oil (PO)‐based polyols have gained increasing popularity, because of their low cost and eco‐friendly nature in comparison to petroleum‐based PUF. To date, insufficient reviews have been reported in the area of modification of plant oils for synthesizing polyol for foam synthesis. Due to abundant availability, low‐cost, and renewable nature of plant oils, they are being used as precursors for modern polyurethane industry use. There is a need for versatile and economical methods for conversion of plant oils such as castor oil (CO) and soybean oil (SO) into useful polyols for industry use. This review is an overview of the most recent advanced methods for the conversion of plant oils into polyol and further utilization of it for commercial PUF products. Since the last decade, many researchers have shown that plant‐polyol‐derived PUF can compete with conventional PUF.
Practical Applications: Practical applications of the PO‐based polyurethane foams include thermal insulation, sound insulation, packaging, and waste water treatment.
Recent advancement in plant oil (PO)‐derived polyurethane foam (PUF) has various applications such as oil–water separation, thermal insulation, packaging, and mattresses. Generally, the modification of plant oil is easier due to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids in the backbone chain. Most preferred routes for modification include epoxidation followed by ring opening, hydroxylation, transesterification, and ozonolysis.
The present research is based on a comparative study of anhydride cured biobased and petroleum-based epoxy network. The effect of epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) bioresin on petroleum-based epoxy ...(DGEBA) at varying compositions cured with methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MHHPA) as curing agent and 2-methyl imidazole (2-MI) as the catalyst has been investigated. The tensile strength of virgin epoxy (42.94 MPa) increased to 48.62 MPa with the addition of 20% of ESO. The fracture toughness parameters; critical stress intensity factor (K IC) and critical strain energy release rate revealed enhancement of toughness in the biobased blends. Differential scanning calorimetry studies confirmed an enhancement in the peak temperature and a reduction in the heat of curing in virgin epoxy on incorporation of ESO content. The thermomechanical and fracture morphological properties of virgin epoxy, ESO, and its biobased blends were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy, respectively.
