Jabair Ali Mohammed

The potential of ecofriendly biochar, a carbon-rich byproduct of biomass pyrolysis, as a low-cost solid lubricating filler for low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sustainable biocomposites is investigated in this work. Tensile strength, hardness, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), melting flow index (MFI), tensile test, flexural test, and frictional tests were used to characterize the biocomposites’ mechanical, thermal, and tribological properties. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used to assess the chemical composition of the biochar, while field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) was used to capture the biochar morphology. The results showed that the incorporation of biochar in LDPE matrix increased the mechanical characteristics of the biocomposites and resulted in a significant increase in tensile strength, flexural strength, and hardness. More specifically, the LDPE+10 wt% composite outperformed the pure LDPE matrix by 1.9% in tensile strength and 47% in flexural strength. Furthermore, integrating biochar into LDPE composites enhances thermal stability, lowers the melt flow index (MFI), and boosts the hardness by 24.3% for the composite with 10% biochar content. Furthermore, biochar improves wear resistance and durability, with the LDPE10 composite exhibiting a friction coefficient that is 56.3% lower than pure LDPE. These findings indicate that biochar is a viable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly filler for improving the performance of LDPE-based biocomposites for many varieties of applications.

The current work is in continuation of our previous work where we reported changes in the properties of epoxy coatings using two different types of hardener in different stoichiometric ratios. The best results-oriented coating stoichiometry was then taken in this research for further modification with the incorporation of 1, 2 and 3 wt.% micro aluminium (Al) pigments designed for coating carbon steel panels. After 7 d of curing, the coated panels were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), (SEM) scanning electron microscopy, (TGA) thermogravimetric analysis, pendulum hardness, a scratch test and nano-indentation. Electrochemical tests were carried out for various exposure periods of time, i.e., 1 h, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d and 30 d, in a 3.5% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution. For the coatings, we found that the presence of 1% Al provided the highest corrosion resistance after exposure periods in the NaCl solution. We also found that prolonging the immersion time decreases the corrosion resistance after 7 d, but increasing the time of immersion to longer periods (14 d, 21 d and 30 d) enhances the corrosion resistance and reduces the degradation of the coatings.