Browsing by Author "Huerta-Cardoso, Omar"
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Item Open Access Fabrication of agave tequilana bagasse/PLA composite and preliminary mechanical properties assessment(Elsevier, 2020-05-15) Huerta-Cardoso, Omar; Durazo-Cardenas, Isidro; Longhurst, Phil; Simms, Nigel J.; Encinas-Oropesa, AdrianaBagasse agave tequilana fibres (ATF), an abundant by-product of Mexican tequila production, were characterised, treated and investigated as a reinforcement and filler material for polylactic acid (PLA) green composites. Two fibre pre-treatments were investigated: alkali (8% NaOH solution) and enzymatic (0.4% Pectate lyase solution). Composites pellets of 20, 40 and 60% (w/v) of ATF in PLA were manufactured using extrusion moulding. Press moulding was used to fabricate samples composite plates. Tensile, flexural, impact and water absorption properties were investigated on machined samples. Assessment of the mechanical properties showed tensile strength of up to 57.1 MPa for 20 % (w/v) of ATF untreated samples. Flexural strength up to 98.8 MPa and impact strength of 6.8 kJ/m2 for 40% (w/v) of ATF alkali treated samples. These values compare well with those of other new bio-composites. The values of the Young’s and flexural moduli are in proximity, if not superior, to those of widely used polymers PLA and GPPS. The optimal ATF loading was found to be ∼40%. Alkali treatment of fibres provided marginally improved mechanical properties; while significantly increasing the samples’ water absorption. Microscopy observations confirmed the two pre-treatments enhanced the fibre/matrix adhesion when compared with untreated fibres.Item Open Access Film-stacking method as an alternative agave tequilana fibre/PLA composite fabrication(Elsevier, 2022-06-18) Huerta-Cardoso, Omar; Durazo-Cardenas, Isidro; Longhurst, Philip J.; Encinas-Oropesa, AdrianaThis paper presents the fabrication of an Agave tequilana Fibre (ATF) bio-composite by film stacking method and an experimental investigation on preliminary mechanical properties; namely tensile, flexural, impact, and water uptake. Randomly oriented bio-composite samples were made from both, untreated and surface treated ATF collected from a tequila distillery waste stream. The ATF were surface treated using NaOH, and Pectate lyase to improve fibre properties and adhesion. The samples were prepared using three fibre loadings, 20, 40 and 60 wt%. Randomly oriented ATF mats were pre-impregnated with poly (lactic acid) (PLA) before bio-composite stacking and press moulding. Untreated fibre samples were processed and kept as a reference. The morphology of the fracture surfaces was analysed through optical and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The quasi-static tensile tests revealed that the modulus of the bio-based composite materials is up to ~10% lower than that of the neat PLA. Flexural strength values observed at 60 wt% of fibre content were within the ranges of 76.10–77.0 MPa for treated samples with a flexural modulus of 3.36–3.76 GPa, whereas impact strength presented a reduction of ~32–35%. Generally, all measured properties presented reduction in strength with the increase of fibre loading.Item Open Access Up-cycling of agave tequilana bagasse-fibres: A study on the effect of fibre-surface treatments on interfacial bonding and mechanical properties(Elsevier, 2020-11-18) Huerta-Cardoso, Omar; Durazo-Cardenas, Isidro; Marchante Rodriguez, Veronica; Longhurst, Phil; Coulon, FredericThe aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of upcycling fibre residues from the harvesting and production of tequila to green composites. Specifically, four different surface-modified natural fibres were assessed as raw material for green composite production. Before any surface treatment, the morphology and tensile properties of agave bagasse fibres from the tequila production batches were determined by optical and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) and single fibre tensile test, respectively. Further to this, agave fibres were exposed by immersion to four surface treatments including alkali, acetylation, enzymatic and silane treatments, in order to improve their morphology and compatibility with polylactic acid (PLA). The effects of these treatments on fibres’ morphology, mechanical properties (i.e. Youngs modulus and ultimate tensile strength), interfacial shear strength (IFSS), and water absorption were assessed. Overall, surface treatments showed improvements in agave bagasse fibre properties with the best results for alkali treated fibres with an ultimate tensile strength of 119.10 MPa, Young modulus of 3.05 GPa, and an IFSS of up to ~60% higher (5.21 MPa) to that performed by untreated samples. These tests allowed to identify alkali treatment as the most suitable for agave bagasse fibres. These results shed light on the interfacial interaction between agave bagasse fibres and PLA and the potential to up-cycle these residue agave fibres to manufacture PLA-based green composites.