Yosr Laatiri, Habib Sammouda, Fadhel Aloulou^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.12, No.4, pp. 771-798, 2024, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2024.047022 - 12 June 2024

Abstract This article aims to present the feasibility of storing thermal energy in buildings for solar water heating while maintaining the comfort environment for residential buildings. Our contribution is the creation of insulating composite panels made of bio-based phase change materials (bio-PCM is all from coconut oil), cement and renewable materials (treated wood fiber and organic clay). The inclusion of wood fibers improved the thermal properties; a simple 2% increase of wood fiber decreased the heat conductivity by approximately 23.42%. The issues of bio-PCM leakage in the cement mortar and a roughly 56.5% reduction in thermal… More > Graphic Abstract

Maximilien Gibier^*, Pierre Girods, Yann Rogaume

FDMP-Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing, Vol.18, No.5, pp. 1427-1439, 2022, DOI:10.32604/fdmp.2022.022057 - 27 May 2022

Abstract The reduction of the hygroscopicity of wood fibers was investigated through a Thermal Treatment (TT) on wood chips performed before the defibering process. The TT and defibering tests were both carried out on a continuous pilot at semi-industrial scale. The thermal treatment study of wood chips, equivalent to a low temperature pyrolysis, was achieved for four conditions (280°C–320°C) for a duration of 10 min. Mass quantification of solids, condensables and gases (FTIR) at the outcome of the thermal treatment allowed to achieve the mass balances for each condition. The increase of the reactor temperature from… More >

Shuang Si, Qian Tang, Xingong Li^*

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.9, No.12, pp. 2209-2222, 2021, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2021.015506 - 22 June 2021

Abstract This study investigated the characteristics of wood fiber/polycaprolactone composite after an artificial accelerated thermo-oxidative aging treatment. The effect of time, temperature and humidity during the treatment on their mechanical, chemical and morphology properties were evaluated. The composite was prepared from melted wood fibers and modified polycaprolactone by a molding process. A temperature and humidity controllable test chamber was used for the thermo-oxidative aging of the composite. The thermo-oxidative aging caused surface of the composite to be much more rougher and even a few cracks and holes appeared on it. According to the spectra of Fourier… More > Graphic Abstract

Jialin Lv¹, Rao Fu¹, Yinan Liu^1,2,*, Xuelian Zhou¹, Weihong Wang^1,*, Pengbo Xie¹, Tingwei Hu¹

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.8, No.8, pp. 879-890, 2020, DOI:10.32604/jrm.2020.010728 - 10 July 2020

Abstract Wood-plastic composite is an environmentally friendly material, due to its use of recycled thermoplastics and plant fibers. However, its surface lacks attractive aesthetic qualities. In this paper, a method of decorating wood fiber/ high-density polyethylene (WF/HDPE) without adding adhesive was explored. Canvas or polyester fabrics were selected as the surface decoration materials. The influence of hot-pressing temperature and WF/HDPE ratio on the adhesion was studied. The surface bonding strength, water resistance, and surface color were evaluated, and observation within the infrared spectrum and under scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the bonding process. The… More >

Xiaoqing Zhang^*, Simon Schmidt^φ, Nick Rigopoulos, Januar Gotama, Eustathios Petinakis

Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.3, No.2, pp. 91-100, 2015, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634135

Abstract The behavior of a biodegradable CO₂ -based polymer polypropylene carbonate (PPC) as polymer matrix of wood fi ber (WF) composites was examined and compared with that of using poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as the matrix. The PPC/WF composites displayed poor mechanical properties as compared to PLA/WF composites because PPC is an amorphous polymer with low T_g and poor thermal stability. However, when PPC was used in conjunction with PLA in WF composites, the mechanical strength and modulus of the composites could match or even exceed the level of PLA/WF composites. The strong intermolecular interactions between PPC and More >