Evaluation of Castor Oil Cake Starch and Recovered Glycerol and Development of “Green” Composites Based on Those with Plant Fibers

Author

José Luis Guimarães ¹

,Ana Cristina Trindade Cursino ²

,Cyro Ketzer Saul ³

,Maria Rita Sierrakowski ²

,Luiz Pereira Ramos ²

 andKestur Gundappa Satyanarayana ^2,†,* 

¹

Setor de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica; Universidade Federal do Paraná—UFPR, Centro Politécnico, Rua Alcides Vieira Arcoverde, 1225, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81520-260, Brazil

²

Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná—UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19081, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil

³

Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná—UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19044, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil

^†

Present Address: Poornaprajna Scientific Research Institute, (PPISR), Bidalur Post, Devanahalli, Bangalore-562 110, Karnataka, India

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Aldo Boccaccini

Received: 14 December 2015 / Accepted: 13 January 2016 / Published: 27 January 2016

Abstract

Continuous efforts are being made in some countries for the recovery of crude glycerin (RG/CG) and castor oil cake (COC), the two byproducts of biodiesel production. These are expected to help, not only in addressing environmental safety, but also in adding value to those byproducts, which otherwise may go to waste. Finding ways to utilize those byproducts underlines the main objective of this study. This paper presents the evaluation of (i) COC, glycerin and banana and sugarcane fibers for moisture content; (ii) COC for structural and thermal properties; and (iii) CG for its chemical characteristics. The possibility of using COC and CG with the selected fibers as reinforcement in the development of bio-composites is attempted through thermo-molding. Results revealed enhanced mechanical properties for these composites. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the observed morphology. View Full-Text

Keywords: fibers; castor oil cake; starch; glycerol; thermo-molding; green composites

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).

MDPI and ACS Style

Guimarães, J.L.; Trindade Cursino, A.C.; Ketzer Saul, C.; Sierrakowski, M.R.; Ramos, L.P.; Satyanarayana, K.G. Evaluation of Castor Oil Cake Starch and Recovered Glycerol and Development of “Green” Composites Based on Those with Plant Fibers. Materials 2016, 9, 76.

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http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/9/2/76