The focus of this work was to analyze the influence of leaf treatments on mechanical, physical and chemical properties and thermal stability of the gelatin/lotus leaf composites. Lotus leaves were treated with drinking water at 95 °C for 5 min. The gelatin/untreated lotus leaf (referred to as GUL) and the gelatin/hot water treated lotus leaf (referred to as GHL) composites have been prepared by the compression molding technique. The composites have been investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TAG), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effect of the lotus leaf hand lay-up fiber orientation was studied for longitudinal, transverse and random orientation of the fibers. The tensile strength of gelatin/lotus leaf composites were influenced by the orientation of the fibers. It was found that longitudinal orientation delivered higher mechanical properties than that of the transverse and random orientation whether untreated or treated. The hot water modification of the lotus leaf was employed to improve the interfacial adhesion of the composites in order to improve the tensile properties. By using TGA analysis data and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFW) method, the thermal stability and degradation temperature of the lotus leaves treated with hot water were higher than those of untreated leaves. In addition, the properties of the novel bio-composites were potential in further development of biodegradable packaging materials.

Impact of Hot Water Treated Lotus Leaves on Interfacial and Physico-Mechanical of Gelatin/Lotus Leaf Composites

The aim of this paper was to improve the performance of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and to predict the flexural strength of the sandwich panels made with thin medium density fiberboard as surface layers, and polyurethane foam as a core layer, by applying metaheuristic optimization methods. For this purpose, various models, namely ant colony optimization for the continuous domain (ACOR), differential evolution (DE), genetic algorithm (GA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO) were applied and compared, as different efficient bio-inspired paradigms, to assess their suitability for training the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system model. The predicted values of the flexural strength resulting from applying adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system trained by ACOR, DE, GA, and PSO, were compared with the values derived from adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system classical model. The molar ratio of formaldehyde to melamine and urea, sandwich panel thickness, and the weight ratio of the modified starch to MUF resin (OS/MUF weight ratio) were used as an input variables and the modulus of rupture was used as an output one. The developed hybrid models were used to predict the values of the modulus of rupture obtained from experimental tests. In order to evaluate and compare the performance of the models, three performance criteria were employed namely, determination coefficient (R2), root mean square error, and mean absolute percentage error. It was found that ANFIS–ACOR, ANFIS–DE, ANFIS–GA, and ANFIS–PSO showed different performance ratios compared to the predicting model. In addition, the ANFIS–GA model is found to be by far more accurate than the other hybrid models.

Developing adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system-based models to predict the bending strength of polyurethane foam-cored sandwich panels

Isolation and characterization of an agro-industrial waste-based novel cellulosic micro fillers from mustard (Brassica juncea) seed oil cake: A waste to wealth approach

AbstractEmploying of biodegradable polymers and reinforcements for the development of composites is important for the reduction of environmental problems of non-biodegradable and petro-based polymers. Completely biodegradable composites (biocomposites, ecocomposites or green composites) are composed of natural fibers and natural matrices or synthetic biodegradable matrices. Completely biodegradable composites can replace synthetic fiber based composites due to excellent mechanical properties, low cost and low density. However, biodegradable composites have hydrophilic nature thus, tend to absorb a significant amount of moisture. Mechanical properties of biodegradable composites immersed in water degrade over time limiting the potential applications of these materials. Not only mechanical properties of biodegradable composites but also dimensions of biodegradable composites are affected by water content. Therefore, in this chapter, the works about processing, applications and water aging of completely biodegradable polymer composites were presented. Also, the results derived from literature studies after water aging of completely biodegradable polymer composites were stated.KeywordsBiodegradable compositeDegradationMoisture absorptionWater aging 

Degradation Effects of Completely Biodegradable Composites to Moisture Absorption and Water Aging

Natural fibres possess low density, less abrasiveness, good strength and sound absorption capacity and its significance lies in being renewable and biodegradable. The mechanical characteristics and...

Chrystella Jacob

Papers

Neurofuzzy modelling of moisture absorption kinetics and its effect on the mechanical properties of pineapple fibre-reinforced polypropylene composite