| KEYWORD |
Natural fiber-based polymer composites
keywords COATINGS, FIRE RETARDANCY, INNOVATIVE MATERIALS, MECHANICAL PROPERTIES, POLYMERIC COMPOSITES, NANOCELLULOSE, RENEWABLE MATERIALS
Reference persons FEDERICO CAROSIO
Research Groups AA - Solar Fuels and Functional Materials for Smart Energy Systems
Thesis type EXPERIMENTAL
Description The research activity is focused on the development of polymer composites based on natural fibers either extracted from plants (cellulose fibers) or derived from industrial waste (keratin fibers).
The Layer by Layer deposition is employed as main surface modification technique. This technique allows to deposit nanostructured coatings by exploiting electrostatic interactions occurring between polyelectrolytes (natural or synthetic) and nanoparticles (nanocellulose, graphene oxide,, etc). A hot pressing procedure is employed for the production of the composites. the aim is to deposit a functional coating on the fibers capable of controlling the polymer/fiber interphase in the final material producing improvements in mechanical properties and flame retardant properties. The so produced composites will be characterized from both the physical-chemical (composition, morphology, etc.) and functional (thermal stability, flame retardancy, mechanical properties) point of view.
Knowledge, skills and competences to be acquired by the end of the thesis
- Basic principles related to the deposition of nanostructured coatings
- Production processes of polymer composites
- Mechanical and flame retardant characterization of composites, evaluation of results and comparison with state of the art
- Structure/property correlation
- Data elaboration performed with a professional software (Origin pro)
- Work in a research group and interact with other researchers
See also https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135983682033359X
Required skills Fundamental knowledge of chemistry, materials science and technology
Notes Research activities performed at Politecnico di Torino Alessandria Campus, Travel reimbursement available
Deadline 17/05/2024
PROPONI LA TUA CANDIDATURA