Abstract
AbstractMiscanthus (Miscanthus Andersson) is a perennial grass that is attracting growing interest from the biomaterial industry. Our aim was to compare miscanthus genotypes varying in stem solidness, a measure of degree to which pith fills cavity between the outer walls of the stem, and analyze whether this trait influences the mechanical properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with miscanthus particles. Six contrasting genotypes were chosen from a Miscanthus sinensis population to determine morphological variables, stem solidness, and mechanical properties of polypropylene composites including 30% of milled miscanthus particles of two sizes of 100 < × < 200 μm and 200 < × < 300 μm. Although aboveground biomass of miscanthus was closely related to the aboveground volume of the plant, namely stand volume, a few genotypes showed contrasting aboveground biomass production for similar stand volumes. This generated contrasting ratio between aboveground biomass and stand volume, namely plant‐specific weights, for similar plant volumes. A principal component analysis showed that fully pith‐filled stems, namely solid stems, were explained by a large stand volume and plant‐specific weights as well as small stem cross‐sections. Genotypes showing partially filled stems were taller with larger stem cross‐sections but smaller plant‐specific weights. They revealed high lignin and p‐coumaric acid contents. Compared to neat‐polypropylene, Young's modulus increased significantly by 139% and 134% and tensile strength by 39% and 36% for genotypes with partially filled stems compared to genotypes with fully pith‐filled stems, respectively. This difference in reinforcing capacity was similar to that of two particle sizes (139% and 134% for Young's modulus, 41% and 34% for tensile strength, respectively). A good tensile strength was obtained with large cross‐stem section, plant height and lignin and p‐coumaric acid contents. It decreased with plant‐specific weight, hemicellulose and ferulic acid contents. Wider morphological variations in other progenies or Miscanthus species should be explored further using the techniques reported here.
Highlights
Miscanthus (Miscanthus Andersson) is a perennial grass that has attracted growing interest for the production of bioenergy, renewable fibers and ecosystem services
A tight significant correlation was observed between aboveground biomass of the plant and its stand volume (r=0.98)
We confirmed the good predictability of aboveground biomass by stand volume over a larger number of genotypes
Summary
Miscanthus (Miscanthus Andersson) is a perennial grass that has attracted growing interest for the production of bioenergy, renewable fibers and ecosystem services. In a comparison of 21 miscanthus clones, the most productive clones displayed high cellulose and lignin contents but low hemicellulose contents (Arnoult et al, 2015) These different components of the miscanthus biomass constitutes an abundant source of carbon, which leads miscanthus to be currently cultivated mainly for the production of bioenergy in Europe. In 2007, Kirwan et al (2007) removed different types of extractives (tannins, gums, sugars and coloring matter, starches) from the stem fragments of Miscanthus x giganteus before their incorporation as a reinforcement in poly(vinyl alcohol). Both flexural modulus and, more significantly, strength increased with a combination of a hot washing regime and a 190 °C processing temperature. The flexural strength reached up to 40-42 MPa while the mean flexural modulus decreased with the fragment sizes (5.7 GPa and 6.8 GPa, for composites using 4 mm and 2 mm long stem fibers, respectively)
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