Abstract
Abstract A research is reported on the nanomechanics and tribology of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (a 100% bio-based material, biodegradable, or resistant depending of application), being a mixture of different biopolymers such as lignin, polylactic acid, cellulose, biopolyamides, and other natural additives. The specimens were made by an industrial-scale injection molding machine. The nanoindentation characterization have unveiled that an increase in processing temperature from 160°C to 170°C produces a rise in hardness and elastic modulus of ∼20%. Tribological characterization against a bearing-steel counterface has shown that for both processing temperatures, the increase of the applied load or the increase of sliding speed will produce an increase of the friction coefficient (µ) and wear. At an applied load of 1 N (contact pressure of 104 MPa) and tracks in a direction perpendicular to the surface textured lines, the lowest µ ∼ 0.148 are for samples made T = 170°C, while for tracks parallel to the textured lines, the lowest µ ∼ 0.059 is obtained for samples made at T = 160°C. Experiments made at different ambient humidity have established that friction coefficient is higher at 0% RH or at 75% RH than at 33% RH. Our results show that the biopolymers Arboblend V2 Nature is a candidate to substitute some popular fossil-based thermoplastics in numerous tribological industrial applications.
Highlights
A research is reported on the nanomechanics and tribology of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (a 100% bio-based material, biodegradable, or resistant depending of application), being a mixture of different biopolymers such as lignin, polylactic acid, cellulose, biopolyamides, and other natural additives
We study the nanomechanical and tribological properties of the natural biopolymer Arboblend V2 Nature that contains more than 90% lignin
Our results demonstrate that the friction coefficient of Arboblend V2 Nature against a steel counterface increases with the sliding speed increase
Summary
Abstract: A research is reported on the nanomechanics and tribology of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (a 100% bio-based material, biodegradable, or resistant depending of application), being a mixture of different biopolymers such as lignin, polylactic acid, cellulose, biopolyamides, and other natural additives. Arboblend V2 Nature is the trade name of a mixture of lignin (>90%), plus other organic additives like starch, waxes, natural resins, and strengthening natural fibers [1] This biopolymer belongs to a group of polymers technically known as “liquid wood,” which were developed by researchers of Fraunhofer-Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT) in Pfinztal (Germany) and later started to be commercialized by Tecnaro GmbH [5]. Arboform has only 30% of lignin, being the rest comprised of wood pulp fibers and other natural additives It is not a real 100% biopolymer because of the Aramid reinforcement fibers, and despite of a relatively high friction coefficient of μ ∼ 0.4 in most of the cases, the material demonstrated to have the potential to replace fossilbased polymers in many applications. Friction characteristics against a bearing steel ball were measured by a reciprocating test at loads between 1 and 10 N, speeds in the range 2.5–50 mm/s, and relative humidity (RH) environments from 0 to 75% RH
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