Open Access

ARTICLE

Biocomposites Based on Thermoplastic Starch and Granite Sand Quarry Waste

by María G. Passaretti, Mario D. Ninago, Cecilia I. Paulo, Horacio A. Petit, Edgardo F. Irassarc, Daniel A. Vega, Marcelo A. Villar, Olivia V. López

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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Citations