In situ Derived Composites of Recycled Polystyrene and Bacterial cellulose

P V, Anju and Khandelwal, Mudrika (2019) In situ Derived Composites of Recycled Polystyrene and Bacterial cellulose. Masters thesis, Indian institute of technology Hyderabad.

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Abstract

Polystyrene (PS) is non-biodegradable and fills around 30% landfills across the world. Only about 15% polystyrene is recycled every year by mechanical, thermal, or chemical methods, but these methods are energy intensive and costly. Restyro technologies Pvt ltd, a startup at IIT Hyderabad, recycles thermocol, which is a commonly used form of PS, using waste citrus peel extract into non-woven micro fibrous fabric. While this is a low cost and easy method of recycling, the fabric obtained suffers from poor mechanical properties. We have prepared composites of recycled Polystyrene fibers and Bacterial Cellulose (BC) nanofibers by a novel strategy - in situ fermentation. As a result, we have obtained a hierarchical composites comprising of cellulose nanofibers and PS microfibers, which interestingly also possess contrasting wetting behaviors. The composites have been characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy for morphology, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for chemical composition, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis for thermal stability. In addition, tensile properties have been measured and biodegradability test by weight loss method is performed. The basic cell viability studies have been performed to analyze its suitability for tissue regeneration.

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