Open Access

ARTICLE

Biocomposites Based on Thermoplastic Starch and Granite Sand Quarry Waste

María G. Passaretti^1,2,*, Mario D. Ninago^3,4, Cecilia I. Paulo⁵, Horacio A. Petit⁵, Edgardo F. Irassarc⁵, Daniel A. Vega⁶, Marcelo A. Villar^1,2, Olivia V. López¹

1 Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química, PLAPIQUI (UNS-CONICET), Camino ‘‘La Carrindanga’’ Km 7, Bahía Blanca, 8000, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2 Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Bahía Blanca, 8000, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3 Facultad de Ciencias Aplicadas a la Industria (FCAI), Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNCuyo), Bernardo de Irigoyen 375, San Rafael, 5600, Mendoza, Argentina.
4 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, C1425FQB, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
5 Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA). Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería, CIFICEN (UNCPBA-CICPBA-CONICET), 7400, Olavarría, Argentina.
6 Instituto de Física del Sur, IFISUR (UNS-CONICET), Bahía Blanca, 8000, Argentina.

* Corresponding Author:María G. Passaretti. Email:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2019, 7(4), 393-402. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2019.04281

Abstract

Granite stone is a by-product of the rock crushing manufacturing. An industrial waste in powder form that causes health problems and environmental pollution. Fine particles fraction can be used as a partial replacement of sand in concrete manufacture. In this work, an alternative exploitation of this waste fraction is proposed. Granite sand (GS) with particles mean size of ~1 μm was employed as thermoplastic starch (TPS) filler at different concentrations. Biocomposites were obtained by melt-mixing and thermo-compression, achieving translucent and easy to handle films. A good GS dispersion within the matrix was evidenced by SEM. Mineral presence induced a shift of starch’s melting point to higher values and a better thermal resistance. TPS UV absorption capacity was increased ~90% by GS addition. An increment in TPS Young’s modulus and maximum tensile stress of 5 and 3 times, respectively was observed by adding 5 % w/w GS.

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