O. Gil-Castell¹, J. D. Badia^1,2, A. Ribes-Greus^1,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.4, pp. 370-382, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634170

Abstract A blending strategy of virgin and reprocessed polylactide may be postulated as an alternative to reduce the material cost at industrial level, and as a valorization route to plastic waste management of production scraps. The performance of blends prepared from virgin polylactide and polylactide mechanically reprocessed up to two cycles (PLA-V/R) was assessed in terms of thermo-oxidative stability, morphology, viscoelasticity and thermal kinetics for energetic valorization. PLA-V/R blends showed appropriate thermo-oxidative stability. The amorphous nature of polylactide was preserved after blending. The viscoelastic properties showed an increment of the mechanical blend effectiveness, which suggested the More >

Zakia Khelifi^1,2, Mohammed Amine Allal², Nabil Abou-bekr², Saïd Taïbi¹, Benoît Duchemin^1*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 336-346, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2018.634102

Abstract The in-soil biodegradation of Stipa tenacissima (alfa) leaves was examined. Non-linear mechanical testing was performed at various biodegradation stages. Tensile strength, loading and unloading Young's moduli and dissipation energy decreased with the burial time, whereas plasticity increased. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) showed that the fracture cracks propagated in the longitudinal direction in the raw material, resulting in a fracture mode consisting of a mixture of middle lamella delamination and fiber pull-out. In contrast, the cracks were perpendicular to the stem axis in the biodegraded material, demonstrating an important strength loss of the load-bearing fibers. More >

Dounia Bendahou^1,2, Abdelkader Bendahou¹, Bastien Seantier¹, Bénédicte Lebeau³, Yves Grohens^1,*, Hamid Kaddami^2,*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 299-313, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634185

Abstract Hybrid aerogels have been prepared by freeze-drying technique after mixing water dispersions of cellulose microfibers or cellulose nanofibers and silica (SiO2) of type SBA-15 (2D-hexagonal). The prepared composites were characterized by different analysis techniques such as SEM, hot-filament, DMA, etc. These composites are compared to those previously prepared using nanozeolites (NZs) as mineral charge. The morphology studied by SEM indicated that both systems have different structures, i.e., individual fibers for cellulose microfibers WP-based aerogels and films for nanofibrillated cellulose NFC-based ones.... These differences seem to be driven by the charge of the particles, their aspect More >

Kahina Iggui^1,2,*,†, Mustapha Kaci², Nicolas Le Moigne¹, Anne Bergeret¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.3, pp. 288-298, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634184

Abstract The effects of accelerated photooxidation on the molecular weight and thermal and mechanical properties of Cast PHBV and PHBV/Cloisite 30B (3 wt%) bionanocomposites are investigated herein. Through size exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis, a significant decrease in both weight and number average molecular weights was observed for all irradiated samples over time, resulting from the chain scission mechanism. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data indicated a decrease in degree of crystallinity and melting temperature after UV exposure, with the appearance of double melting peaks related to the changes in the crystal structure of PHBV. Thermal stability, tensile More >

Enih Rosamah¹, Abdul Khalil H.P.S.^2*, S.W. Yap², Chaturbhuj K. Saurabh², Paridah M. Tahir³, Rudi Dungani⁴, Abdulwahab F. Owolabi²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.1, pp. 75-86, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634152

Abstract In this study, bamboo nanoparticles in concentration ranges from 0–5% were incorporated along with woven/nonwoven kenaf fiber mat into unsaturated polyester and the developed composites were further characterized. Bamboo chips were subjected to ball milling process for the synthesis of nanoparticles with a particle size of 52.92 nm. The effect that the incorporation of nanoparticles had on various properties of reinforced composites was further observed. Due to the high surface area of nanoparticles, incorporation of 3% of nanofillers contributed towards strong bonding and better wettability with matrix, thus resulting in excellent mechanical properties and thermal More >

M. Asim¹, M. Jawaid^1,4*, K. Abdan², M.R. Ishak³, O.Y. Alothman^4,5

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.6, No.1, pp. 38-46, 2018, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634148

Abstract In this study, pineapple leaf fiber (PALF), kenaf fiber (KF) and PALF/KF/phenolic (PF) composites were fabricated and their mechanical properties were investigated. The mechanical properties (tensile, flexural and impact) of the PALF/KF/PF hybrid composites were investigated and compared with PALF/KF composites. The 3P7K exhibited enhanced tensile strength (46.96 MPa) and modulus (6.84 GPa), flexural strength (84.21 MPa) and modulus (5.81 GPa), and impact strength (5.39 kJ/m2) when compared with the PALF/PF and KF/PF composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the fracture surfaces of the tensile testing samples. The microstructure of the 7P3K More >

Solenne Mondésert-Deveraux^{1, *}, Rachele Allena², Denis Aubry¹

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 155-176, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.03053

Abstract Cell migration is the cornerstone of many biological phenomena such as cancer metastasis, immune response or organogenesis. Adhesion-based motility is the most renown and examined motility mode, but in an adhesion-free confined environment or simply to achieve a higher migration speed, cells can adopt a very interesting bleb-based migration mode called “chimneying”. This mode rests on the sharp synchronization between the active contraction of the cells uropod and the passive friction force between the cell and the confining surface. In this paper, we propose a one dimensional poroelastic model of chimneying which considers the active… More >

JongWon Kim^1,2, Ning Li², Ramana Pidaparti^2,*, Xianqiao Wang^2,*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.3, pp. 127-141, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.02669

Abstract Nonlinear microstructure of the microtubules (MTs) plays an important role in their mechanical properties. Despite the extensive efforts into the development of continuum models for microtubules, a mesoscale finite element model that can link the molecular level information to the overall performance of microtubules is still missing. The aim of this study is to develop a molecular dynamics model (MDM), finite element model (FEM) and structural mechanics beam model (SMBM) for tubulins of protofilament (PF). In MDM, the backbone atoms of α-tubulin were fixed while the backbone atoms of β-tubulin were attached to a molecular… More >

Lilan Gao^1,2,*, Qingxian Yuan^1,2, Ruixin Li^3,*, Lei Chen^1,2, Chunqiu Zhang^1,2, Xizheng Zhang^1,2

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.2, pp. 85-98, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.00329

Abstract Silk fibroin-typeⅡcollagen scaffold was made by 3D printing technique and freeze-drying method, and its mechanical properties were studied by experiments and theoretical prediction. The results show that the three-dimensional silk fibroin-typeⅡ collagen scaffold has good porosity and water absorption, which is (89.3%+3.26%) and (824.09%+93.05%), respectively. With the given strain value, the stress of scaffold decreases rapidly firstly and then tends to be stable during the stress relaxation. Both initial and instantaneous stresses increase with increase of applied strain value. The creep strains of scaffold with different stress levels show the two stages: the rapidly increasing… More >

Virginia Aragon Sanabria¹, Cheng Dong^*

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.15, No.1, pp. 1-19, 2018, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2018.015.001

Abstract Endothelial barrier function is critical for tissue homeostasis throughout the body. Disruption of the endothelial monolayer leads to edema, vascular diseases and even cancer metastasis among other pathological conditions. Breakdown of the endothelial barrier integrity triggered by cytokines (e.g.IL-8,IL-1β) and growth factors (e.g.VEGF) is well documented. However, endothelial cells are subject to major biomechanical forces that affect their behavior. Due to their unique location at the interface between circulating blood and surrounding tissues, endothelial cells experience shear stress, strain and contraction forces. More than three decades ago, it was already appreciated that shear flow caused More >