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Flax fiber-reinforced fatty acid vitrimer biocomposite with enhanced chemical recyclability

  • Additive Manufacturing of Functional and Smart Composites Research Letter
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Abstract

This study unveils a sustainable, easily recyclable biocomposite, leveraging the dynamic nature of covalently adaptive bonds in a vitrimer matrix. The fabrication involved a fatty acid-derived vitrimer as the polymer matrix and multi-layered, nonwoven flax mat as reinforcing scaffold. The incorporation of these fibers significantly improved the mechanical performance of the vitrimer matrix uniformly. The ester-based covalently adaptive network plays a crucial role in enabling exceptional fiber-matrix bonding, as well as recyclability. The vitrimer matrix dissolves in ethylene glycol through transesterification, facilitating complete material recovery and biocomposite recycling without compromising the original properties of the matrix and reinforcing fibers.

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Data availability

Data that support the findings of this study are available from the lead and corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Additional data have been added to supplementary information.

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Acknowledgments

Research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) Program. Dynamic mechanical analysis of vitrimer composites conducted by SSR and MTD was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division [FWP# ERKCK60].

Funding

This research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725, was sponsored by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office Program. Dynamic mechanical analysis of vitrimer composites conducted by SSR and MTD was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division [FWP# ERKCK60].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 37996, USA

    Sargun Singh Rohewal & Amit K. Naskar

  2. Carbon and Composites Group, Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Rd, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Sargun Singh Rohewal, Zeyang Yu, Logan T. Kearney, Michael D. Toomey & Amit K. Naskar

  3. Endeavor Composites, Inc, 10658 Checkerboard Ln, Knoxville, TN, 37932, USA

    Hicham K. Ghossein

Authors
  1. Sargun Singh Rohewal
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  2. Zeyang Yu
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  3. Logan T. Kearney
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  4. Michael D. Toomey
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  5. Hicham K. Ghossein
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  6. Amit K. Naskar
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Contributions

SSR: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, writing—original draft. ZY: conceptualization, writing—review and editing. LTK: conceptualization, writing—review and editing, supervision. MDT: conceptualization, writing—review and editing. HKG: conceptualization, methodology. AKN: conceptualization, writing—reviewing, supervision, funding acquisition.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Logan T. Kearney or Amit K. Naskar.

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Conflict of interest

Coauthor Hicham K. Ghossein is CEO and Founder of Endeavor Composites, Inc. For the rest of the authors, there is no conflict of interest.

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This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US Government retains, and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).

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Rohewal, S.S., Yu, Z., Kearney, L.T. et al. Flax fiber-reinforced fatty acid vitrimer biocomposite with enhanced chemical recyclability. MRS Communications (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43579-024-00556-1

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