| Autor: |
Almeida-Naranjo CE; Grupo de Biodiversidad Medio Ambiente y Salud (BIOMAS), Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Redondel del Ciclista Antigua Vía a Nayón, Quito 170124, Ecuador., Aguilar AD; Departamento de Ciencias de Alimentos y Biotecnología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, Quito 17-07-2759, Ecuador.; Advanced Materials and Processes (MAP)-Technische Fakultät, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.; Institute of Polymer Technology (LKT), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Am Weichselgarten 10, 91058 Erlangen-Tennenlohe, Germany., Valle V; Departamento de Ciencias de Alimentos y Biotecnología, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Ladrón de Guevara E11-253, Quito 17-07-2759, Ecuador., Bastidas-Caldes C; One Health Research Group, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas, Universidad de Las Américas, Redondel del Ciclista Antigua Vía a Nayón, Quito 170124, Ecuador., Debut A; Center of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE, Sangolquí 17-15-231B, Ecuador., Sinchiguano B; Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Construcción, Universidad UTE, Rumipamba y Bourgeois, Quito 17-07-2759, Ecuador. |
| Abstrakt: |
Agro-industrial residue valorization under the umbrella of the circular bioeconomy (CBE) has prompted the search for further forward-thinking alternatives that encourage the mitigation of the industry's environmental footprint. From this perspective, second-life valorization (viz., thermoplastic composites) has been explored for agro-industrial waste (viz., oil palm empty fruit bunch fibers, OPEFBFs) that has already been used previously in other circular applications (viz., the removal of domestic wastewater contaminants). Particularly, this ongoing study evaluated the performance of raw residues (R-OPEFBFs) within three different size ranges (250-425, 425-600, 600-800 µm) both before and after their utilization in biofiltration processes (as post-adsorbents, P-OPEFBFs) to reinforce a polymer matrix of acrylic resin. The research examined the changes in R-OPEFBF composition and morphology caused by microorganisms in the biofilters and their impact on the mechanical properties of the composites. Smaller R-OPEFBFs (250-425 µm) demonstrated superior mechanical performance. Additionally, the composites with P-OPEFBFs displayed significant enhancements in their mechanical properties (3.9-40.3%) compared to those with R-OPEFBFs. The combination of the three fiber sizes improved the mechanical behavior of the composites, indicating the potential for both R-OPEFBFs and P-OPEFBFs as reinforcement materials in composite applications. |
