Disk Refining and Ultrasonication Treated Sugarcane Bagasse Residues for Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Bio-composites

摘要

Disk refining and ultrasonication treated sugarcane bagasse residues reclaimed from the waste stream of a simplified bioethanol process after fermentation were used to fabricate biobased composites with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) by film casting. The morphologies and the size distributions of residue particles were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy and various particle size analyzers. The results showed that the residue particle sizes were about hundreds nanometers to tens microns after disk refining treatment. After further treatment by ultrasonication, the particle sizes ranged from about tens of nanometers to several microns. The treated residues were expected to have a large surface area to reinforce PVA. The results indicated that the addition of treated fermentation residues significantly increased the tensile modulus of neat PVA with minimal impact on tensile strength. Furthermore, the PVA composites had higher thermal degradation temperature compared to neat PVA.