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Characterization of Microalgae Biomass/PE Biocomposites Obtained by Compression and Rotational Molding

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Advances in Manufacturing IV (MANUFACTURING 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering ((LNME))

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Abstract

The non-degradable nature of synthetic plastic waste in the eco-system has led to an increase in the research on more eco-friendly materials. In this context, biocomposites have been developed and microalgae biomass has become an emerging potential source for their production. This study assesses the possibility of obtaining composites made of polyethylene and Tetraselmis biomass as a way to improve the environmental behavior of plastic parts, reducing the amount of virgin plastic used in the process, while providing at the same time interesting features, such as stabilization. Biocomposites were produced by compression and rotational molding, testing different biomass contents. Compression molding allowed to obtain pieces with up to a 20% of biomass load with practically the same thermal and mechanical properties that pure PE parts. In the case of rotomolding, although up to a 10% of biomass could be processed, a 5% of biomass seems to be the limit to get acceptable properties and a good visual appearance.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support for developing this research work was received from “Convocatoria complementaria de ayudas para la recualificación del sistema universitario español para 2021–2023 (Modalidad Margarita Salas) of The Ministry of Universities of Spain and The European Union (NexGeneationEU"/PRTR) en consonancia con la Disposición adicional décima de la Ley 17/2022, de 5 de septiembre. Proyecto LICEM (EIS 2021 33), financiado por la Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento y Empleo del Gobierno de Canarias a través de Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional. Canarias Avanza con Europa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería de Procesos, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Edificio de Fabricación Integrada, Parque Científico – Tecnológico de la ULPGC, Campus universitario de Tafira Baja, 35017, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain

    Sara Díaz & Zaida Ortega

  2. Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), Playa de Pozo Izquierdo, s/n, 35119, Santa Lucía, Spain

    Raúl Ríos

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  1. Sara Díaz
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  2. Zaida Ortega
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Correspondence to Sara Díaz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland

    Bartosz Gapiński

  2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland

    Olaf Ciszak

  3. Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Machines and Tools, Sumy State University, Sumy, Ukraine

    Vitalii Ivanov

  4. School of Engineering, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Jose Mendes Machado

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Díaz, S., Ortega, Z., Ríos, R. (2024). Characterization of Microalgae Biomass/PE Biocomposites Obtained by Compression and Rotational Molding. In: Gapiński, B., Ciszak, O., Ivanov, V., Machado, J.M. (eds) Advances in Manufacturing IV. MANUFACTURING 2024. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56463-5_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56463-5_18

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