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Nano Eggshell Tailored Polyurethane Foam Composites for Structural Material Design

Undergraduate #378
Discipline: Technology and Engineering
Subcategory: Materials Science

Azizi Turner - Tuskegee University
Co-Author(s): Boniface J. Tiimob, Shaik Jeelani, and Vijaya K. Rangari, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL



The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of eggshell nanoparticles on the compressive properties of polyurethane foam fabricated structures. Eggshell is a major waste product from poultry industry which has the potential of tailoring the mechanical properties of polymers to satisfy the needs of specific applications in structural engineering. Hence, bulk eggshell were process into very fine nanoscale particles using ball milling and ultrasound techniques. This led to the production of > 30 nm scaled particles of eggshell. The eggshell particles have high stiffness and have very high potential to increase the density of foam material, when they are properly incorporated in the matrix. Hence, different types of foam composited were prepared and tested using compression technique: the neat polyol, and polyol with mechanical and sonication assisted-mixed 1, 2 and 3 wt. % eggshell nanoparticles were room temperature cured. The compressive strength of each specimen after testing revealed that modulus increased in a proportionate manner commensurate to the amount of eggshell nanoparticles loaded. Significant improvement of 5.5 %, 56.5% and 125.5 % in compressive modulus were realized due to the addition of 1, 2 and 3 wt.% of eggshell in the foam matrix respectively. More experiments will be done in the future on microstructural analysis and the thermal properties of these materials to determine their structural morphology and stability due to changing temperature. These results suggest that eggshell bio waste is highly reinforcing to the polymeric foam matrix and can serve as a green alternative and cheaper reinforcement material for foam structure.

Reference: Facundo I. Altuna, Roxana A. Ruseckaite, and Pablo M. Stefani. Biobased Thermosetting Epoxy Foams: Mechanical and Thermal Characterization. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2015, 3, 1406-1411.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): The authors will like to acknowledge NSF-CREST#1137681, NSF-RISE#1137682 for supporting this research, ERN for the travel award and American dehydrated foods Inc. Atlanta GA for supplying the eggshells.

Faculty Advisor: Vijaya Rangari, rangariv@mytu.tuskegee.edu

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

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