Inga Zotova^1,*, Edgars Kirilovs¹, Laura Ziemele²

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.12, No.3, pp. 603-613, 2024, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2024.047607 - 11 April 2024

Abstract Nowadays buildings contain innovative materials, materials from local resources, production surpluses and rapidly renewable natural resources. Phase Change Materials (PCM) are one such group of novel materials which reduce building energy consumption. With the wider availability of microencapsulated PCM, there is an opportunity to develop a new type of insulating materials, combinate PCM with traditional insulation materials for latent heat energy storage. These materials are typically flammable and are located on the interior wall finishing yet there has been no detailed assessment of their fire performance. In this research work prototypes of low-density insulating boards… More > Graphic Abstract

Oussama Accouche^1,*, Rajan Kumar Gangadhari²

CMC-Computers, Materials & Continua, Vol.76, No.1, pp. 151-173, 2023, DOI:10.32604/cmc.2023.038648 - 08 June 2023

Abstract Distributed renewable energy sources offer significant alternatives for Qatar and the Arab Gulf region’s future fuel supply and demand. Microgrids are essential for providing dependable power in difficult-to-reach areas while incorporating significant amounts of renewable energy sources. In energy-efficient data centers, distributed generation can be used to meet the facility’s overall power needs. This study primarily focuses on the best energy management practices for a smart microgrid in Qatar while taking demand-side load management into account. This article looked into a university microgrid in Qatar that primarily aimed to get all of its energy from… More >

Haoran Wei, Tian Ji, Jianqing Huang^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.11, No.2, pp. 731-743, 2023, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2022.022283 - 22 September 2022

Abstract Simultaneous broadband absorption and polarization conversion are crucial in many practical applications, especially in terahertz communications. Thus, actively tunable metamaterial systems can exploit the graphene-based nanomaterials derived from renewable resources because of the flexible surface conductivity and selective permeability of the nanomaterials at terahertz frequencies. In this paper, we propose a graphene-based active tunable bifunctional metasurface for dynamic terahertz absorption and polarization conversion. The graphene ring presents a certain opening angle (A) along the diagonal of the xoy plane. When A = 0°, the proposed metasurface behaves as a broadband absorber. Numerical results show the feasibility… More >

Jiusong Chen^1,*, Dejun Miao¹, Yizong Dai¹, Mojtaba Ghadamyari^2,*

Energy Engineering, Vol.119, No.5, pp. 1985-2003, 2022, DOI:10.32604/ee.2022.021142 - 21 July 2022

Abstract Electric vehicles (EVs) have received special consideration from modern society over the past several years. Although EVs are a fine example of environmentally friendly technology and have many advantages, they relatively increase the electricity demand upon a power grid as well. Therefore, their negative impact on busvoltage and line losses should be analyzed. In this study, the effect of EV loads and their penetration on bus voltage and line losses of an IEEE-33 bussystem has been examined via two scenarios. It is important to mention that the effect of EVs on the rate of air More >

Shegufta Shetranjiwalla, Shaojun Li, Laziz Bouzidi, Suresh S. Narine^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.5, pp. 333-344, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634102

Abstract The impact of polymerization protocol on phase structure and properties of entirely lipid-derived thermoplastic poly(ester urethane)s (TPEU)s was investigated. The TPEUs were synthesized from 1,7-heptamethylene diisocyanate, polyester diols and 1,9-nonanediol (ND) as chain extender. A two-stage polymerization method was used to prepare two TPEUs; one in which ND was added in the first stage of polymerization as part of the prepolymer and another in the second stage after the prepolymer was formed. Two very different morphologies exhibiting different degrees of phase separation were obtained, driven by the sequence of addition of the chain extender. The More >

Nicole Segura Salas¹, Felipe Orozco Gutiérrez³, Luis Daniel Mora Murillo², Yendry Corrales Ureña³, Shakira Johnson¹, José Vega Baudrit³, Rodolfo Jesús González-Paz^3*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.3-4, pp. 313-322, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634122

Abstract Vegetable oils are being used for the production of biodegradable polymers, opening new possibilities for the synthesis of greener materials that could compete in national markets with petroleum-based polymers. In this study, castor oil and a catalyst (cobalt[II] naphtenate as promotor and MEKP as initiator) from local stores and styrene in different ratios were used to produce thermostable polymers. The kinetics of the polymerization reaction was followed by infrared spectroscopy. A polymeric material was synthetized which presents good mechanical properties. Therefore, composites were produced using 1 wt% of microcellulose extracted from biomass waste as reinforcement More >

Luis Daniel Mora-Murillo¹, Felipe Orozco-Gutierrez², José Vega-Baudrit², Rodolfo Jesús González-Paz^2*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.5, No.3-4, pp. 220-230, 2017, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2017.634112

Abstract Nowadays, green polyurethane (PU) foams are mostly synthesized by replacing an amount of petrochemical polyol with biobased polyol. Here we report five different families of isocyanate prepolymer formulations that were prepared with biobased sources and the correlation between the structure of chains and the properties of the produced PU foam. Foam behavior in tension, torsion, compression, shape memory tests and physical properties were studied by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA); interactions in the polymer chains were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR); and thermal analysis was performed by thermogravimetry (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry More >

M. Kirpluks^1*, U. Cabulis¹, A. Ivdre¹, M. Kuranska², M. Zieleniewska³, M. Auguscik³

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.1, pp. 86-100, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2015.634132

Abstract The most common sustainable solution for polyurethane (PU) materials is their production using renewable resources. Polyols derived from biomass and recycled polymers are the most promising way to do that. This study compares five different sustainable polyols as a possible raw material for production of highdensity rigid PU foams for automotive application. The goal of our study was to show that biobased polyols are a suitable replacement for polyols derived from petrochemical products. The influence of the chemical structure of polyols on the PU polymer matrix and foam properties was investigated. Two sources of PU… More >

Jiang Min, Lu Tingting, Zhang Qiang, Chen Ying, Zhou Guangyuan^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 120-141, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634139

Abstract Novel copolyesters were successfully synthesized from terephthalic acid (TPA), 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) and ethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, 1,6-hexanediol and 1,8-octanediol via direct esterifi cation method by using tetrabutyl titanate (TBT) as catalyst. The copolyesters were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹ H-NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and tensile tests. The results of GPC showed that all of the copolyesters had high molecular weight, with an average molecular weight (Mw) more than 1×10⁴ g/mol. The results of ¹ H-NMR showed that the copolyesters were random copolymers which… More >

Andrea Morelli, Dario Puppi, Federica Chiellini^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.1, No.2, pp. 83-112, 2013, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2012.634106

Abstract Polymers, particularly those susceptible to undergoing biodegradation under physiological environments, can be considered the materials of choice for biomedical applications such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and controlled and targeted drug delivery. The development of these relatively new fi elds of biomedical research represents the driving force towards the exploitation of renewable resources for the obtainment of biobased polymeric biomaterials. This perspective article reports on the biomedical applications of three major categories of biobased polymeric materials obtained from renewable resources, namely, polysaccharides, proteins and polyesters of natural origins. Particular emphasis is given to biobased polymers More >