SVILUPPO DI SISTEMI CON STRUTTURE COMPLESSE A BASE BIOPOLIMERICA REALIZZATI ATTRAVERSO PROCESSI COMBINATI IN MULTI- O IN ONE-STEP

L'analisi dello stato dell'arte suggerisce che la combinazione di processi di produzione, solitamente impiegati per l’elaborazione di strutture differenti, comporta la produzione di dispositivi a base biopolimerica con strutture complesse e proprietà rilevanti. L'obiettivo di questo lavoro di ricerca è stato quello di esplorare i diversi vantaggi dei metodi di elaborazione combinati sia in one-step che in two-steps. In particolare, sono state testate diverse combinazioni di processing al fine di ottenere dispositivi a base biopolimerica con strutture e proprietà non ottenibili da singoli processi, trattamenti o materiali. Ogni dispositivo è stato caratterizzato al fine di comprendere le relazioni tra processo-proprietà e struttura. La preparazione di vari dispositivi per applicazioni diverse ha dunque dato prova di come questa strategia risulti vincente al fine di creare strutture compless

Release Profiles of Carvacrol or Chlorhexidine of PLA/Graphene Nanoplatelets Membranes Prepared Using Electrospinning and Solution Blow Spinning: A Comparative Study

Nanofibrous membranes are often the core components used to produce devices for a controlled release and are frequently prepared by electrospinning (ES). However, ES requires high production times and costs and is not easy to scale. Recently, solution blow spinning (SBS) has been proposed as an alternative technique for the production of nanofibrous membranes. In this study, a comparison between these two techniques is proposed. Poly (lactic acid)-based nanofibrous membranes were produced by electrospinning (ES) and solution blow spinning (SBS) in order to evaluate the different effect of liquid (carvacrol, CRV) or solid (chlorhexidine, CHX) molecules addition on the morphology, structural properties, and release behavior. The outcomes revealed that both ES and SBS nanofibrous mat allowed for obtaining a controlled release up to 500 h. In detail, the lower wettability of the SBS system allowed for slowing down the CRV release kinetics, compared to the one obtained for ES membranes. On the contrary, with SBS, a faster CHX release can be obtained due to its more hydrophilic behavior. Further, the addition of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) led to a decrease in wettability and allowed for a slowing down of the release kinetics in the whole of the systems

Opuntia Ficus Indica based green composites for NPK fertilizer controlled release produced by compression molding and fused deposition modeling

Excessive fertilization causes ecological problems due to leaching issues. To solve this problem and promote agriculture sustainability an innovative green composite for controlled release fertilizers was produced by adding NPK fertilizer flour to a biodegradable polymer with or without Opuntia Ficus Indica (OFI) particles. Six for- mulations were produced and employed for the fabrication of devices both for compression molding and fused deposition modeling (FDM). Both fillers displayed a good dispersion in the composites, excellent adhesion with the polymeric matrix and effectively acted as reinforcement. The decrease of NPK release rate (up to 30 days) was achieved using whole composites prepared. By appropriately selecting the dimension of the particles, the addition of OFI and the production technique, was possible to modulate the NPK release rate: FDM samples containing fine particles of OFI and NPK displayed the fastest release. Release data were fitted according to Peppas-Korsmeyer model to understand the release mechanism

Green composites for fertilizer controlled release produced by compression molding and FDM

Excessive fertilization causes ecological problems due to leaching issues. To solve this problem and promote agriculture sustainability an innovative green composite for controlled release fertilizers was produced by adding NPK fertilizer flour to a biodegradable polymer with or without Opuntia Ficus Indica (OFI) particles. Six formulations were produced and employed for the fabrication of devices both for compression molding (CM) and fused deposition modeling (FDM). Both fillers displayed a good dispersion in the composites, excellent adhesion with the polymeric matrix and effectively acted as reinforcement. The decrease of NPK release rate (up to 30 days) was achieved using whole composites prepared. By appropriately selecting the dimension of the particles, the addition of OFI and the production technique, was possible to modulate the NPK release rate: FDM samples containing fine particles of OFI and NPK displayed the fastest release. Release data were fitted according to Peppas-Korsmeyer model to understand the release mechanism

Structure-property relationship of PLA-Opuntia Ficus Indica biocomposites

In this work, a lignocellulosic flour was achieved by grinding the cladodes of Opuntia Ficus Indica and then added to a poly-lactic acid (PLA) in order to prepare biocomposites by melt processing. The influence of filler content and size on the morphological, rheological, and mechanical properties of the green composites was assessed. Moreover, solvent-aided filler extraction enabled to evaluate the homogeneity of filler dispersion, as well as the effect of processing on the geometrical features of the fillers. The experimental data obtained by tensile tests proved to be remarkably higher than those predicted by Halpin–Tsai model, presumably due to the capability of the polymer to enter the empty channels of the fillers, thus dramatically increasing the interphasic region

Lignocellulosic fillers and graphene nanoplatelets as hybrid reinforcement for polylactic acid: Effect on mechanical properties and degradability

This work investigates the effect of adding relatively low amounts of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) to a biocomposite based on polylactic acid (PLA) and a lignocellulosic filler achieved by grinding Posidonia Oceanica leaves (Posidonia flour, PF). The ternary composites were prepared by melt extrusion and characterized from a morphological and mechanical point of view. Furthermore, hydrolytic degradation tests were performed under acidic, neutral and alkaline environment up to 900 h. Density measurements enabled to assess the degree of intraphase, i.e. the capability of polymer macromolecules to enter the voids of PF and a modified Halpin-Tsai model was presented and used to fit experimental data obtained from tensile tests. The results demonstrate that the hybrid reinforcement constituted by GNP and PF allows improving mechanical properties (up to 155%) and speeding up the degradation kinetics with respect to neat PLA and composites loaded with GNP only. In particular, the relatively fast degradation kinetics observed at pH = 7 and especially at pH = 10 make these hybrid composites very promising in the perspective of marine disposal

Green Composites Based on Hedysarum coronarium with Outstanding FDM Printability and Mechanical Performance

The addition of natural scraps to biodegradable polymers has gained particular interest in recent years, allowing reducing environmental pollution related to traditional plastic. In this work, new composites were fabricated by adding 10% or 20% of Hedysarum coronarium (HC) flour to Poly (lactic acid) (PLA). The two formulations were first produced by twin screw extrusion and the obtained filaments were then employed for the fabrication of composites, either for compression molding (CM) or by fused deposition modeling (FDM), and characterized from a morphological and mechanical point of view. Through FDM it was possible to achieve dense structures with good wettability of the filler that, on the contrary, cannot be obtained by CM. The results indicate that the filler effectively acts as reinforcement, especially for FDM composites. The most remarkable enhancement was found in the flexural properties (+100% of modulus and ultimate strength), followed by tensile resistance and stiffness (+60%) and impact strength (+50%), whereas a moderate loss in tensile deformability was observed, especially at the highest loading. By adding HC to the polymeric matrix, it was possible to obtain a green, high-performance, and cost-effective composite, which could find applications for the fabrication of panels for furniture or the automotive industry

Hedysarum coronarium-Based Green Composites Prepared by Compression Molding and Fused Deposition Modeling

In this work, an innovative green composite was produced by adding Hedysarum coronarium (HC) flour to a starch-based biodegradable polymer (Mater-Bi®, MB). The flour was obtained by grinding together stems, leaves and flowers and subsequently sieving it, selecting a fraction from 75 μm to 300 μm. Four formulations have been produced by compression molding (CM) and fused deposition modeling (FDM) by adding 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of HC to MB. The influence of filler content on the processability was tested, and rheological, morphological and mechanical properties of composites were also assessed. Through CM, it was possible to obtain easily homogeneous samples with all filler amounts. Concerning FDM, 5% and 10% HC-filled composites proved also easily printable. Mechanical results showed filler effectively acted as reinforcement: Young’s modulus and tensile strengths of the composites increased from 74.3 MPa to 236 MPa and from 18.6 MPa to 33.4 MPa, respectively, when 20% of HC was added to the pure matrix. FDM samples, moreover, showed higher mechanical properties if compared with CM ones due to rectilinear infill and fibers orientation. In fact, regarding the 10% HC composites, Young’s modulus of the CM and FDM ones displayed a relative increment of 176% and 224%, respectively