Abstract
Natural keratin fibres derived from Mexican tannery waste and coconut fibres from coconut processing waste were used as fillers in commercially available, biodegradable thermoplastic starch-polyester blend to obtain sustainable biocomposites. The morphology, rheological and mechanical properties as well as pyrolysis, flammability and forced flaming combustion behaviour of those biocomposites were investigated. In order to open up new application areas for these kinds of biocomposites, ammonium polyphosphate (APP) was added as a flame retardant. Extensive flammability and cone calorimeter studies revealed a good flame retardance effect with natural fibres alone and improved effectiveness with the addition of APP. In fact, it was shown that replacing 20 of 30 wt. % of APP with keratin fibres achieved the same effectiveness. In the case of coconut fibres, a synergistic effect led to an even lower heat release rate and total heat evolved due to reinforced char residue. This was confirmed via scanning electron microscopy of the char structure. All in all, these results constitute a good approach towards sustainable and biodegradable fibre reinforced biocomposites with improved flame retardant properties.
Highlights
The recycling of industrial wastes is an economically interesting and environmentally friendly approach towards sustainable material resources
In order to create a completely biodegradable biocomposite obtained from renewable resources, synthetic fillers such as carbon or glass fibres need to be replaced and a biopolymer must be used as matrix [1,2,3]
The results offer a foundation for reducing the content of a traditional flame retardant additive by adding natural fibres to thermoplastic starch biocomposites [15]
Summary
The recycling of industrial wastes is an economically interesting and environmentally friendly approach towards sustainable material resources. For an efficient manufacturing and usage lifecycle, it is necessary for the processing plant to be in the vicinity of the material source. The natural fibre wastes investigated in this paper are derived directly from Mexican industrial sectors and processed in Mexico, to reduce transport and storage effort to a minimum. An inexpensive and ecological and sustainable, alternative is found in natural fibres derived from industrial process wastes. These may come from plant-based sources like bast fibres as well as animal sources [4]. Vegetal fibres are composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, while animal-based fibres consist mainly of proteins, posing a valuable nitrogen source
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