abstract
Composites can offer superior properties and versatility but raise environmental concerns due to disposal challenges, even when made from bio-based materials. Hence, in this study, cork/PLA bio-based composites were recycled using dissolution-precipitation principles. First, virgin cork and PLA were extruded to produce cork/PLA bio-composites which were then recycled using dichloromethane to separate the biomass filler from the biopolymer matrix. It was found that 80.9% +/- 2.4 of cork and 85.9% +/- 5.9 of PLA were successfully recovered, with the recovered materials retaining the same chemical structure as the virgin counterparts. The cork maintained its honeycomb structure after extrusion and recycling, indicating its resistance to the process. As expected, adding cork to PLA reduced the composite's mechanical performance, but the recovered PLA showed similar mechanical properties to the virgin PLA. Both virgin PLA and composite filaments displayed similar glass transition (Tg) and cold crystallization (Tcrist) temperatures, but the recovered PLA presented slightly lower values, likely due to some PLA degradation. Despite this, all recovered materials exhibited similar thermal stability to their virgin counterparts. Cork is primarily used in the production of cork stoppers, and, hence, its recycling efforts mainly focus on reusing cork from stoppers rather than from composites. Therefore, the recycling process proposed successfully separated cork from PLA composites, with the recovered materials maintaining comparable properties, highlighting the potential for improving the eco-efficiency of composites.
keywords
LIGNOCELLULOSIC FIBERS; SUBERIN; PLA
subject category
Science & Technology - Other Topics
authors
Gama, N; Godinho, B; Barros-Timmons, A; Ferreira, A
our authors
Ana Margarida Madeira Viegas de Barros Timmons
Associate Professor
Artur Jorge Faria Ferreira
Professor Coordinator
Bruno Miguel Marques Godinho
Researcher
Nuno Vasco da Costa Gama Batista de Melo
Junior ResearcherProjects
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDB/50011/2020)
CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials (UIDP/50011/2020)
Associated Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials (LA/P/0006/2020)
acknowledgements
This study was funded within the scope of the project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020 & LA/P/0006/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). The NMR spectrometers are part of the National NMR Network (PTNMR) and are partially supported by Infrastructure Project No 022161 (co-financed by FEDER through COMPETE 2020, POCI and PORL and FCT through PIDDAC).