UBC Okanagan researchers have adapted a technique—originally designed to embalm human remains—to strengthen the properties of bio composites and make them stronger
With the invention of new accoutrements and green mixes, it's easy to overlook accoutrements like bamboo and other natural filaments, explains UBCO Professor of Mechanical EngineeringDr. Abbas Milani. These filaments are now used in numerous operations similar as apparel, the automotive assiduity, packaging and construction.
His exploration platoon has now plant a way not only to strengthen these filaments, but reduce their tendency to degrade over time, making them indeed more environmentally friendly.
"Bamboo has nearly the same strength as a mild sword while flaunting further inflexibility,"saysDr. Milani, the launching director of the Accoutrements and Manufacturing Research Institute."With its low weight, cost and abundant vacuity, bamboo is a material that has great pledge but until now had one big debit."
Bamboo is one of the world's most gathered and used natural filaments with further than 30-million metric tons produced annually. Still, its natural filaments can absorb water and degrade and weaken over time due to humidity uptake and riding.
Using a process called plastination to dehydrate the bamboo, the exploration platoon also use it as a underpinning with other filaments and accoutrements. Also they cure it into a new high- performance mongrel biocomposite.
First developed by Gunther von Hagens in 1977, plastination has been considerably used for the long- term preservation of beast, mortal and fungal remains, and now has plant its way to advanced accoutrements operations. Plastination ensures continuity of the compound material for both short-and long- term use, says Daanvir Dhir, the report'sco-author and recent UBC Okanagan graduate.
"The plastinated-bamboo compound was mixed with glass and polymer filaments to produce a material that's lighter and yet more durable than similar mixes,"says Dhir."This work is unique as there are no earlier studies probing the use of similar platinated natural filaments in synthetic fiber corroborated polymer mixes."
Dhir says this new durable mongrel bamboo/ woven glass fiber/ polypropylene compound, treated with the patination fashion has a promising future.
Supported by industrial partner NetZero Enterprises Inc., the research shows that adding only a small amount of plastinated materials to the bamboo can increase the impact absorption capacity of the composite—without losing its elastic properties. This also lowers the material's degradation rate.
More work needs to be done on the optimization of this process as Dhir says plastination is currently time-consuming. But he notes the benefit of discovering the right composition of plastinated natural fibers will result in a sizable reduction of non-degradable waste in many industries, with a lower environmental footprint.
Future studies are underway to optimize and investigate the effect of plastinating other natural fibers, such as flax and hemp. The researchers also suggest a life cycle analysis of the materials should be conducted under different applications and compared to non-plastinated samples. This will provide a better picture of the corresponding trade-off between the environmental footprint and mechanical durability effects.
