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Biopolymers and Bioplastics 2016
September 12-14, 2016
Volume 7, Issue 5(Suppl) J Bioremed Biodeg 2016
ISSN: 2155-6199 JBRBD, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
September 12-14, 2016 San Antonio, USA
3rd International Conference and Exhibition onBiopolymers & Bioplastics
Anju Ramakrishnan, J Bioremed Biodeg 2016, 7:5(Suppl)
Surface modified chitin with silane as reinforcement in cement mortar composites
Anju Ramakrishnan
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
With increasing global concern over depletion of non-renewable fossil fuel and rising price for petroleum and petroleum
derived products, present and future demands natural materials that are eco-friendly (with minimum waste disposal),
having light weight, high durable with mechanical properties greater than or equal to those of traditional petroleum based
materials. Chitin is such an abundant biopolymer found in cell walls and skeletal structure of numerous invertebrates. But one
of the drawback in chitin whisker based composite is the presence of hydrogen bonds in chitin tend the fibers to agglomerate
into bundles and unevenly distribute throughout the non-polar polymer matrix during compounding processing; resulting a
weak interfacial adhesion. Therefore fiber treatment is beneficial towards improving the water resistance and wettability of the
fiber surface by polymers and enhances interfacial adhesion. A coupling agent is a chemical that functions at the interface to
create a chemical bridge between the reinforcement andmatrix. Mainly organosilanes are efficient coupling agents and they have
been extensively used in composites. The hydroxyl groups present on the surface of the chitin powder is allowed to condense
with the hydroxyl groups of the silicates under alkaline pH conditions. In this study, chitin whisker surface was modified by
the treatment with a suitable silane coupling agent. The properties of surface modified chitin characterized by PXRD, SEM,
TGA and FTIR. This reinforcing material was used in mortar composites and the mechanical properties enhancement studied.
Biography
Anju Ramakrishnan is pursuing PhD from the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology - Madras under the guidance of Prof. R Dhamodharan. She
has extensive experience in preparation of nanocellulose using banana fiber, surface modification of cellulose and chitin extracted from various natural resources,
using silane coupling agents.