caa a22 4500 467886210 CHVBK 20180406152735.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170328e20060101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10924-005-8701-3 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10924-005-8701-3 Manufacture and Biodegradation of Wheat Gluten/Basalt Composite Material [Elektronische Daten] [Peng Ye, Lauren Reitz, Chris Horan, Richard Parnas] Wheat gluten is a naturally occurring protein polymer. It is biodegradable and very inexpensive (less than $1.00/kg). Nonfood applications of wheat gluten have been explored to develop biodegradable polymers from renewable resources. In this work, gluten was reinforced with unidirectional basalt fibers in a compression molding operation. Biodegradation behavior of wheat gluten/basalt composites was examined by putting specimens into soil of prescribed moisture content. Specimens were removed at various time intervals and tested for mass loss and change in mechanical properties. Both mass and mechanical properties show a steady decline over a soil exposure time of 40days. However, the basalt composite retained mechanical properties longer. At the same time, the bacterial count on the specimen surfaces increased exponentially. Field emission scanning electron microscope images show smooth fracture surfaces, indicating brittle failure of the wheat gluten. However, there are many small holes in the protein matrix with diameter of order 100nm. These small inclusions may contribute to the brittleness through stress concentration. Springer Science+Business Media, Inc., 2006 Wheat gluten nationallicence composite nationallicence basalt fibers nationallicence biodegradation nationallicence Ye Peng Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut Reitz Lauren Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut Horan Chris Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut Parnas Richard Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut Journal of Polymers and the Environment Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 14/1(2006-01-01), 1-7 1566-2543 14:1<1 2006 14 10924 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-005-8701-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-005-8701-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ye Peng Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Reitz Lauren Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Horan Chris Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Parnas Richard Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut, 97 N. Eagleville Rd., U-3136, 06269-3136, Storrs, CT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Journal of Polymers and the Environment Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers 14/1(2006-01-01), 1-7 1566-2543 14:1<1 2006 14 10924 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer