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Biopolymers and Biocomposites Based on Agricultural Residues: Industrialized Natural Resources for Architecture and Construction
... There is a direct physical relationship between the quantity of raw materials used in industrial processes, the energy required, and hence, GHG emissions [2]. The use of renewable raw materials can contribute to slowing down climate change by releasing fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuels when used for energy and even by binding carbon dioxide in the long term when used for materials [3][4][5]. ...
The sustainable management of lignocellulosic agricultural waste has gained significant attention due to its potential for the production of valuable products. This paper provides an extensive overview of the valorization strategies employed to convert lignocellulosic agricultural waste into economically and environmentally valuable products. The manuscript examines the conversion routes employed for the production of valuable products from lignocellulosic agricultural waste. These include the production of biofuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel, via biochemical and thermochemical processes. Additionally, the synthesis of platform chemicals, such as furfural, levulinic acid, and xylose, is explored, which serve as building blocks for the manufacturing of polymers, resins, and other high-value chemicals. Moreover, this overview highlights the potential of lignocellulosic agricultural waste in generating bio-based materials, including bio-based composites, bio-based plastics, and bio-based adsorbents. The utilization of lignocellulosic waste as feedstock for the production of enzymes, organic acids, and bioactive compounds is also discussed. The challenges and opportunities associated with lignocellulosic agricultural waste valorization are addressed, encompassing technological, economic, and environmental aspects. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the valorization potential of lignocellulosic agricultural waste, highlighting its significance in transitioning towards a sustainable and circular bioeconomy. The insights presented here aim to inspire further research and development in the field of lignocellulosic waste valorization, fostering innovative approaches and promoting the utilization of this abundant resource for the production of valuable products.
... Since the latter is a constant factor, products and equipment vary consequently with the related costs. In order to rationalize the natural resources, the limiting factor of using winemaking by-products for making bio-composite materials is the lower productivity of biopolymer than starchy-based substrates [62]. Another limiting factor concerns potential incompatibility between wine co-products and other agrobased by-products. ...
Plastics from fossil source are third after steel and cement among the most widespread materials used in the buildings sector. Bioplastics are biopolymers that offer a sustainable alternative due to their biodegradability and compostability. The edible first-generation sugary-based feedstocks, having high costs that drive the market price even in presence of a large-scale production of bioplastics, should be partly replaced by 2030 with non-edible second-generation feedstocks based on recyclable organic solid agro-wastes according to “Green Deal” of the European Union. The winemaking wastes used as feedstock for the synthesis of biopolymer building blocks and reinforcing fillers could represent a suitable option to reduce biopolymer costs and increase their competitiveness in plastic market. Although bioplastic can solve more environmental issues, nonetheless the production cycle does not always respect the principles of sustainability overall during biopolymer recovery. The present feasibility study is aimed at taking the state of the art of bioplastics in the buildings industry for promoting winemaking co-products into a circular system. The literature data have been collected, consulted and empirically elaborated to find real and potential opportunities, barriers and challenges of developing wine wastes (e.g. wine shoots, grape pomace and wine lees) in the strategic market segment of bioclimatic architecture.
This study reports biodegradable films composed of corn starch and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) for food packaging applications. The films were developed using 5% (w/w) CNC and three different plasticizers (glycerol, sorbitol, polyethylene glycol (PEG)), the content of which was based on the dry mass of starch. The CNCs were obtained via ultrafine grinding of a suspension containing 5 wt.% microcrystalline cellulose. After producing the starch films by casting, they were subjected to thickness tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), contact angle and tensile strength analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The micrographs showed that all films exhibited surfaces without roughness, pores, or cracks. The thermal tests indicated that the sample containing 40% (w/w) glycerol and 5% (w/w) CNC had a thermal degradation temperature of 237.7 °C, implying greater thermal stability. Mechanical tests showed that compared to the film with 40% (w/w) glycerol, the 50% (w/w) glycerol-incorporated film exhibited a lower tensile strength at break (approximately 3.28 MPa) and an increased B-type crystallinity. Furthermore, it was revealed that the starch films incorporated with 40% (w/w) glycerol and 5% (w/w) CNC had improved properties while preserving their chemical structure. These results indicate that balancing the levels of plasticizers in our corn starch/CNC-based films is crucial for ensuring their optimal performance and stability as packaging materials.
Plastics are the third most widespread material of human production on the planet, after steel and cement. In a prevalent way, are materials used in Construction and Buildings. In fact, the sector is the second in demanding for plastic materials, preceded by the packaging. This activates an industry that, in Europe, employs 1.5 million people for a marketplace of 355 billion euros a year.
According to these data, taken from the latest report about plastics made by the Category Association, imagine a world without plastic is impossible. On the other hand, environmental issues related to disposal are one of the challenges that the European Community has proposed to win by 2030.
If policies mainly attack the packaging sector, even the sectors in which the useful life is comparable to that of the building must take on the issue.
For some years now, International Research has been focusing on the production of bioplastics, biodegradable and synthesized from biomass.
These materials partially solve the issue of disposal, but they do not always respect the principles of sustainability in the production process. So, the prevailing orientation is to exploit biotechnologies, producing bioplastics by bacterial fermentation.
The results are very encouraging, but they clash with some environmental problems related to the use of dangerous and highly toxic solvents. Furthermore, the use of sugary fermentation substrates has costs that are reflected in the market price even in a large-scale production.
The present contribution aims to take stock of the state of the art regarding the possibility of using fermentation substrates from the by-products of the wine industry, with a view to upcycling and circular economy, as well as assessing the possibility of using solvents less toxic while maintaining high material purity and industrial productivity in order to make the product economically competitive.
3D printing has become commonplace for the manufacturing of objects with unusual geometries. Recent developments that enabled printing of multiple materials indicate that the technology can potentially offer a much wider design space beyond unusual shaping. Here we show that a new dimension in this design space can be exploited through the control of the orientation of anisotropic particles used as building blocks during a direct ink-writing process. Particle orientation control is demonstrated by applying low magnetic fields on deposited inks pre-loaded with magnetized stiff platelets. Multimaterial dispensers and a two-component mixing unit provide additional control over the local composition of the printed material. The five-dimensional design space covered by the proposed multimaterial magnetically assisted 3D printing platform (MM-3D printing) opens the way towards the manufacturing of functional heterogeneous materials with exquisite microstructural features thus far only accessible by biological materials grown in nature.
Current fabrication technologies of structural composites based on the infiltration of fiber weaves with a polymeric resin offer good control over the orientation of long reinforcing fibers but remain too cumbersome and slow to enable cost-effective manufacturing. The development of processing routes that allow for fine control of the reinforcement orientation and that are also compatible with fast polymer processing technologies remains a major challenge. In this paper, we show that bulk platelet-reinforced composites with tailored reinforcement architectures and mechanical properties can be fabricated through the directed-assembly of inorganic platelets using combined magnetic and mechanical stimuli. The mechanical performance and fracture behavior of the resulting composites under compression and bending can be deliberately tuned by assembling the platelets into designed microstructures. By combining high alignment degree and volume fractions of reinforcement up to 27vol%, we fabricated platelet-reinforced composites that can potentially be made with cost-effective polymer processing routes while still exhibiting properties that are comparable to those of state-of-the-art glass-fiber composites.
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