Preparation of biocomposite from agricultural wastes

The production of biocomposite materials from agricultural wastes is gaining worldwide attention with the increasing demand for environmentally friendly materials. Agricultural residues are alternative materials because they are cheap, easy to process, abundant and renewable. The plastics industry is one of the areas where agricultural waste can be used most effectively. Some advantages of polymer composites filled with organic materials such as low density, high specific properties and high dimensional stability make it possible to use some agricultural wastes as fillers and reinforcements in polymer composites. The fact that polylactic acid is a biopolymer obtained from nature has increased its use as a matrix material in biocomposites. Various agricultural wastes are used in the preparation of biocomposite materials. The use of agricultural wastes as filler material in biocomposites both reduces the material price and recycles a waste product. In our study, polylactic acid was used as the matrix material and rice and pistachio shells, which are widely available in the world, were used as fillers. On the other hand, impact strength enhancing additives were used to improve both the impact strength of the prepared biocomposite materials and to increase the compatibility of the matrix with the added fillers. The biocomposites were reinforced with glass fiber to increase their mechanical strength. In the study, biocomposite samples were prepared by melt processing method using polylactic acid, rice husk, pistachio shell, impact strength enhancer and glass fiber. The prepared biocomposites were analyzed in terms of morphological, rheological and mechanical properties. Among the biocomposite samples, the most suitable mixing ratios were determined in terms of mechanical, fluidity, cost and ease of processing. The rheological, morphological and mechanical effects of impact strength enhancer additives in biocomposites were investigated. It was concluded that the impact strength enhancer is partially compatible with the polymer matrix and fillers and improves the impact strength.