Biopolymers as green-based food packaging materials: A focus on modified and unmodified starch-based films

The ideal food packaging materials are recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable. Starch from plant sources, such as tubers, legumes, cereals, and agro-industrial plant residues, is considered one of the most suitable biopolymers for producing biodegradable films due to its natural abundance and low cost. The chemical modification of starch makes it possible to produce films with better technological properties by changing the functional groups into starch. Using biopolymers extracted from agro-industrial waste can add value to a raw material that would otherwise be discarded. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has driven a rise in demand for single-use plastics, intensifying pressure on this already out-of-control issue. This review provides an overview of biopolymers, with a particular focus on starch, to develop sustainable materials for food packaging. This study summarizes the methods and provides a potential approach to starch modification for improving the mechanical and barrier properties of starch-based films. This review also updates some trends pointed out by the food packaging sector in the last years, considering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Perspectives to achieve more sustainable food packaging toward a more circular economy are drawn.     

Photo-Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries using TiS2 Cathode

Photo-rechargeable (solar) battery can be considered as an energy harvesting cum storage system, where it can charge the conventional metal-ion battery using light instead of electricity, without having other parasitic reactions. Here a two-electrode lithium-ion solar battery with multifaceted TiS₂–TiO₂ hybrid sheets as cathode. The choice of TiS₂–TiO₂ electrode ensures the formation of a type II semiconductor heterostructure while the lateral heterostructure geometry ensures high mass/charge transfer and light interactions with the electrode. TiS₂ has a higher lithium binding energy (1.6 eV) than TiO₂ (1.03 eV), ensuring the possibilities of higher amount of Li-ion insertion to TiS₂ and hence the maximum recovery with the photocharging, as further confirmed by the experiments. Apart from the demonstration of solar solid-state batteries, the charging of lithium-ion full cell with light indicates the formation of lithium intercalated graphite compounds, ensuring the charging of the battery without any other parasitic reactions at the electrolyte or electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Possible mechanisms proposed here for the charging and discharging processes of solar batteries, based on the experimental and theoretical results, indicate the potential of such systems in the forthcoming era of renewable energies.     

Stereolithographic 3D Printing of Ceramics: Challenges and Opportunities for Structural Integrity

This article reviews the current activities at the Montanuniversität Leoben on the design, processing, and characterization of 3D printed advanced ceramics using the lithography-based manufacturing technology. An overview of the challenges and the opportunities offered to improve the mechanical properties of printing ceramics is given. Their brittle failure is analyzed within the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics, considering specific aspects of additive manufacturing. Several issues associated with the printing process are addressed, such as surface quality, geometry control, influence of printing directions, as well as the need to establish testing protocols for 3D printed parts. Based on the layer-by-layer capabilities of the stereolithographic process, bio-inspired material design concepts are discussed aiming to enhance the mechanical resistance of 3D-printed ceramics. By tailoring the layer architecture and microstructure of the parts, high strength and fracture resistance may be achieved.     

Influence of adhesive fillets on fatigue behaviour of single-strap composite repairs

The objective of this work is to analyse the influence of adhesive fillets on the fatigue/fracture behaviour of single-strap adhesive repairs of carbon-epoxy composites. A cohesive zone model (CZM) appropriate for high-cycle fatigue analysis was employed. A preliminary model validation was performed using results ensuing from experimental testing of single-strap adhesive repairs without fillets. Subsequently, the numerical model was used to investigate the effect of outer, inner and both (outer and inner) fillets on the quasi-static strengths and on the fatigue lives of these repairs. It was concluded that inner fillets provide the best option concerning the increase of fatigue life or a maximum fatigue load for a given planned service-life of the repaired component.