Tribological and nanomechanical properties of a lignin-based biopolymer

• Published in: e-Polymers Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 528 - 541
• Main Authors: Broitman, Esteban, Nedelcu, Dumitru, Mazurchevici, Simona-Nicoleta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin De Gruyter 01.01.2020; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: Additives; Arboblend V2 Nature; Biodegradability; Biological materials; Biopolymers; Coefficient of friction; Contact pressure; friction; Industrial applications; Injection molding; Injection molding machines; Lignin; Modulus of elasticity; Nanoindentation; Polylactic acid; Thermoplastic resins; Tribology; wear
• ISSN: 2197-4586; 1618-7229
• DOI: 10.1515/epoly-2020-0055

A research is reported on the nanomechanics and tribology of the Arboblend V2 Nature biopolymer (a 100% bio-based material, biodegradable, or resistant depending of application), being a mixture of different biopolymers such as lignin, polylactic acid, cellulose, biopolyamides, and other natural additives. The specimens were made by an industrial-scale injection molding machine. The nanoindentation characterization have unveiled that an increase in processing temperature from 160°C to 170°C produces a rise in hardness and elastic modulus of ∼20%. Tribological characterization against a bearing-steel counterface has shown that for both processing temperatures, the increase of the applied load or the increase of sliding speed will produce an increase of the friction coefficient ( ) and wear. At an applied load of 1 N (contact pressure of 104 MPa) and tracks in a direction perpendicular to the surface textured lines, the lowest ∼ 0.148 are for samples made = 170°C, while for tracks parallel to the textured lines, the lowest ∼ 0.059 is obtained for samples made at = 160°C. Experiments made at different ambient humidity have established that friction coefficient is higher at 0% RH or at 75% RH than at 33% RH. Our results show that the biopolymers Arboblend V2 Nature is a candidate to substitute some popular fossil-based thermoplastics in numerous tribological industrial applications.