فعالیت‌های پژوهشی

Green composites are materials having eco-friendly attributes that are technically and economically feasible while minimizing the generation of pollution. This project refers to extract nano fibers from degradable sources mostly cellulosic to develop green composite materials. Cellulosic fibers in micro and nano scale are attractive to replace man-made fibers as reinforcement to make environmentally friendly green products. In this study, we will discuss the steps of extraction of cellulose nano fiber and their properties.

Green composites are materials having eco-friendly attributes that are technically and economically feasible while minimizing the generation of pollution. This project refers to extract nano fibers from degradable sources mostly cellulosic to develop green composite materials. Cellulosic fibers in micro and nano scale are attractive to replace man-made fibers as reinforcement to make environmentally friendly green products. In this study, we will discuss the steps of extraction of cellulose nano fiber and their properties.

The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) from depithed sugarcane bagasse (SCB) via a sulfur-free chemo-mechanical method. The chemical pretreatments were designed in three stages, initially extractives were removed from SCBs based on national renewable energy laboratory (NREL) method, then SCBs were subjected to a pulping process that involved prehydrolysis with deionized hot water and alkaline pretreatment with soda-anthraquinone (AQ) in the mini-batch reactor to produce dissolving pulp.

Starch is an attractive biofoam candidate as replacement of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in packaging materials. The main technical problems with starch foam include its hygroscopic nature, sensitivity of its mechanical properties to moisture content, and much lower energy absorption than EPS. Starch is biodegradable but very brittle and has poor mechanical properties. It is, therefore, a poor alternative for any synthetic thermoplastic.

This study focused on some pollutants, were detected in rivers, lakes, and soil. Polycation–clay mineral nanocomposites were characterized and designed for the removal of

these pollutants. The adsorption kinetics of polyacrylic on montmorillonite (MMT) was studied. Consequently, polycation–MMT composites were chosen to test pollutant adsorption. The results of this study emphasize the importance of better understanding pollutant–adsorbent interactions to enable more efficient tailoring of polymer–clay mineral composites for water and soil treatment.

Rice straw is an inexpensive and easily accessible lignocellulosic resource which in comparison with other lignocellulosic materials has high content of silica. The presence of silica reduces enzymatic hydrolysis yield of straw and consequently, adversely affects ethanol production. In this study, silica removal from rice straw using various chemical substances at different temperatures and time intervals was investigated. Sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, sodium chloride, and sodium dodecyl sulfate were used to remove silica from rice straw.