Abstract
Continuous efforts are being made in some countries for the recovery of crude glycerin (RG/CG) and castor oil cake (COC), the two byproducts of biodiesel production. These are expected to help, not only in addressing environmental safety, but also in adding value to those byproducts, which otherwise may go to waste. Finding ways to utilize those byproducts underlines the main objective of this study. This paper presents the evaluation of (i) COC, glycerin and banana and sugarcane fibers for moisture content; (ii) COC for structural and thermal properties; and (iii) CG for its chemical characteristics. The possibility of using COC and CG with the selected fibers as reinforcement in the development of bio-composites is attempted through thermo-molding. Results revealed enhanced mechanical properties for these composites. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the observed morphology.
Highlights
Recognizing the depletion of petro-chemical resources and growing environmental awareness, researchers dealing with composites have been searching for the replacement of expensive and non-renewable petroleum based synthetic fibers and polymers
With the castor oil cake (COC) + Recovered glycerol (RG) matrix fibers of both banana and sugar cane bagasse were used as reinforcements in the present work
Fractographic studies of tensile tested matrix laminates of COC+ RG and their composites with banana and sugar cane bagasse fibers were carried out using a JEOL (Peabody, MA, USA) scanning electron microscope (SEM) at 15 keV after gold coating to avoid sample charging
Summary
Recognizing the depletion of petro-chemical resources and growing environmental awareness, researchers dealing with composites have been searching for the replacement of expensive and non-renewable petroleum based synthetic fibers and polymers. The overall objective of this research group is to formulate some attractive propositions through composite technology to explore new utilization routes for co-products of the biodiesel industry with or without other agro industrial byproducts This concept is important for countries like Brazil, where its Northeastern region produces large quantities of castor seeds and uses the castor oil in several processes including the production of biodiesel. Such efforts already reported include the use of COC (a) either fully or partly substituting conventional starches to develop biodegradable composites using lignocellulosic fibers such as banana, sugarcane bagasse etc. This paper presents (a) the characterization of COC and RG with regard to some of their physical and thermal properties; and (b) evaluation of their “green” composites prepared by thermo molding with the incorporation of banana and sugarcane bagasse fibers
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