Functional Properties of Kenaf Bast Fibre Anhydride Modification Enhancement with Bionanocarbon in Polymer Nanobiocomposites

The miscibility between hydrophilic biofibre and hydrophobic matrix has been a challenge in developing polymer biocomposite. This study investigated the anhydride modification effect of propionic and succinic anhydrides on Kenaf fibre’s functional properties in vinyl ester bionanocomposites. Bionanocarbon from oil palm shell agricultural wastes enhanced nanofiller properties in the fibre-matrix interface via the resin transfer moulding technique. The succinylated fibre with the addition of the nanofiller in vinyl ester provided great improvement of the tensile, flexural, and impact strengths of 92.47 ± 1.19 MPa, 108.34 ± 1.40 MPa, and 8.94 ± 0.12 kJ m−2, respectively than the propionylated fibre. The physical, morphological, chemical structural, and thermal properties of bionanocomposites containing 3% bionanocarbon loading showed better enhancement properties. This enhancement was associated with the effect of the anhydride modification and the nanofiller’s homogeneity in bionanocarbon-Kenaf fibre-vinyl ester bonding. It appears that Kenaf fibre modified with propionic and succinic anhydrides incorporated with bionanocarbon can be successfully utilised as reinforcing materials in vinyl ester matrix.

Ultra-thin quaternized polybenzimidazole anion exchange membranes with throughout OH− conducive highway networks for high-performance fuel cells

Throughout ion conducive highway networks in AEMs is proposed to overcome the OH− conduction barrier in a hydrophobic matrix.

Influence of nanofillers on the properties of siloxane elastomers

In this study, the influence of nanosilicon(IV)-oxide (with hydrophobic and hydrophilic functionalized surfaces) on the properties of siloxane elastomers was studied. The elastomers were prepared from vinyl and hydrogen oligosiloxanes, while the nanocomposites were obtained by addition of nanofillers at different concentrations (1, 5, 10 and 20 wt%). The chemical structure of the obtained materials was analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed good dispersion of the hydrophobic filler within the polymer matrix, while the hydrophilic filler formed a net on the siloxane sample. Type of the filler modification did not affect hardness of the siloxane hybrid materials, while the samples with the highest content of hydrophobic nanosilica have shown the highest value of tensile strength. Influence of the nanosilica type on thermal degradation of elastomeric materials was investigated by using thermogravimetric analysis, while the influence of the fillers on the phase transition temperature was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry. Lower compatibility of the hydrophobic matrix and hydrophilic filler caused a decrease in the crystalline melting temperature with the lowest value determined for the sample with the highest filler loading. Increase in the nanofiller content resulted in the improved thermal stability of the obtained hybrid materials.

Surface Modification of Macroporous Matrix for Immobilization of Lipase for Fructose Oleic Ester Synthesis

<p>The objective of this research was to modify the matrix surfaces to obtain both hydrophobic matrix (HM) and hydrophilic-hydrophobic matrix (HHM) for enzymatic synthesis of fructose oleic ester (FOE). The modification was performed by the attachment of 2-phenylpropionaldehyde (PPA) and PPA followed by polyethyleneimine (PEI) for HM and HHM, respectively. The results from FT-IR analysis showed that the peak of stretching vibration of NH₂ bond decreased and it was followed by an increase of the peak vibration of –C=N– bond at wave number 1667 cm^-1. The peak of bending vibrations of the C=C bond also increased. It indicated that PPA was successfully attached on matrix. For HHM, an increase in the peak area of NH₂ bond indicated that PEI was also successfully attached on the matrix. The optimum conditions of lipase adsorption were obtained at buffer pH 7 containing 0.5 M NaCl (9.27 mg protein/g matrix) and without NaCl (9.23 mg protein/g matrix) for HM and HHM, respectively. For FOE synthesis, the best immobilized lipase concentration was about 8% and 6% for HM and HHM, respectively. The optimum time of esterification was 24 h and 18 h for HM and HHM, respectively, in which the yields were 75.96% and 85.29%, respectively. The immobilized lipase could be used up to 3 cycles of esterification reaction. Copyright © 2016 BCREC GROUP. All rights reserved</p><p><em>Received: 21^st December 2015; Revised: 23^rd February 2016; Accepted: 14^th April 2016</em></p><p><strong>How to Cite</strong>: Hilmanto, H., Hidayat, C., Hastuti, P. (2016). Surface Modification of Macroporous Matrix for Immobilization of Lipase for Fructose Oleic Ester Synthesis. <em>Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering &amp; Catalysis</em>, 11 (3): 339-345 (doi:10.9767/bcrec.11.3.573.339-345)</p><p><strong>Permalink/DOI:</strong> <a href="http://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.11.3.573.339-345">http://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.11.3.573.339-345</a></p>