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

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.4, pp. 393-402, 2019, DOI: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. More >

Deliane da Silva Cabral, Antonio José Felix Car

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.7, No.4, pp. 325-333, 2019, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2019.01794

Abstract Poly(hydroxybutyrate)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PHB/PVA) blends plasticized with glycerol were prepared by melt blending of PHB and glycerol plasticized PVA. The PHB/PVA-glycerol compositions were 90:10, 75:25 and 50:50 w/w, being the concentration of glycerol in the PVA mixture of 10 wt %. The blends were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, dynamic-mechanical thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscope of the fragile fractured surface. The results showed one single phase blend, indicating miscibility corroborated by the presence of a single glass transition temperature. The blending method proved to be an efficient way to tune PHB properties keeping its biodegradable nature More >