engleski

Mechanical properties and biodegradability of composite material from cellulose as waste raw materials

In order to improve and strengthen the importance of environmental protection and waste management in practice, it is necessary to use waste as a raw material for the production of new materials in a circular economy. With the development of textile technology and materials, it is now possible to produce biodegradable materials, which are an important step in the implementation of waste management and thus environmental protection. In this aspect, the idea of developing materials from textile industrial waste as a raw material for personal use was initiated. The aim of this work is to study the mechanical properties and biodegradability of composites made from shredded modal fibers mixed with thickeners, with and without chitosan as an additional additive, in order to obtain better biodegradable properties in use. Also, a rheological analysis of three types of thickeners with different raw material compositions was carried out, of which carboxymethylcellulose was found to be the most suitable for testing the dry matter content and blending with modal as man-made cellulose fibers. The following tests of the structure of the composites formed, such as surface analysis with a scanning electron microscope, tensile strength with a universal strength tester, while the biodegradability of the samples were carried out by burying them in the soil. The obtained results show that the mechanical properties of the composite structure were improved and the components of the tested composite were almost completely degraded within a degradation period of 50 days, which proves the biodegradability.

cellulose fibers ; thickener ; chitosan ; mechanical properties ; biodegradation

Provedena istraživanja dio su istraživanja koja se provode u okviru bilateralnog HR-SLO projekta Development of biodegradable and antimicrobial cellulose composites from waste material (voditeljice S. Ercegović Ražić i M. Gorjanc, 2020.-2022.) u okviru kojeg se želi dobiti celulozni kompozitni materijal potrebnih svojstava za osobnu primjenu.