Abstract
There is critical concern about meeting future global demand for materials because of the depletion of natural resources. In particular, the balance between future demand and sustainable supply will require a great deal of attention in years to come. The interest in the long term sustainability of material resources has led to advancements in bio-composite or polymer composite materials that are made from natural fibers and resin. Pinecones and chestnut waste are most often used as the biomass/biochar source. Nature proposes, and man disposes; we have to find or create new forms of pinecone and chestnut waste to increase their value and for environmental reasons. That is why the current waste was processed and transformed to filler in an up-graded state. In this study, composites were manufactured using chestnut waste and pinecone powder as filler and polyester as the polymer matrix. In addition, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide as hardener and cobalt naphthenate as accelerator were used to produce polyester composite. Raw materials of the fillers were treated with sodium hydroxide solution. The polyester amount was kept constant while the filler ratio was increased from 3% to 12% by weight. The similarities and differences between composites with different fillers and chemical pre-treatments were assessed by evaluating certain mechanical properties such as flexural strength, elastic modulus and hardness and various physical features such as density, open porosity percentage and water absorption. According to the experimental results, increasing the ratio of both chestnut and pinecone powder led to a decrease in the bending strength and an increase in the elastic modulus. Higher properties were associated with the chestnut waste/polyester composite than the pinecone powder/polyester composite.
Highlights
Evidence of the worldwide depletion of natural resources has resulted in critical concern about meeting future global demand
The mechanical and physical properties of the composite materials were determined by applying a three-point bending test, shore-D hardness test and water absorption tests
Chemical pre-treatment improved physical and mechanical properties in polyester composite samples of waste chestnut shell powder while it had a negative impact on the composite polyester sample of pinecone powder
Summary
Evidence of the worldwide depletion of natural resources has resulted in critical concern about meeting future global demand. The use of natural fibers and shells instead of textile fibers has become mandatory in recent years. This is because the recycling of reinforcing elements made from fibrous textiles that are used as supports for composite materials is difficult, their fragmentation lifetimes in nature are long and production costs are high [7]. The use of natural fibers in composite materials is increasing rapidly as concepts such as recycling and sustainability gain importance. The biological degradability and recyclability of the natural fibers used as reinforcing materials make them preferable to synthetic fibers thanks to their low density and high specific strength values as well as the renewability of their herbal natural resources. The components that make up the material become increasingly important for the development of
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