Development of Sustainable Rubber Composites Reinforced with Silk Fabric for High-Performance Bicycle Tires: Material Characterization and Prototype Testing.

Natural rubber (NR) composites reinforced with fabrics were prepared through compression molding by sandwiching a layer of fabric between two layers of NR. A range of composite properties were assessed, including adhesion and mechanical-thermal behavior. Cross-linked NR reinforced with silk fabric had better mechanical properties compared to the same NR reinforced with nylon fabric.

Sustainable 4D Printed Meta Biocomposite Materials for Programmable Structural Shape Changing.

Biological structures provide inspiration for developing advanced materials from sustainable resources, enabling passive structural morphing. Despite an increasing interest for parsimony-oriented innovation, sustainable shape-changing materials based on renewable resources remain underexplored. In this work, the architecture of a single plant fiber cell wall (S, for instance) is simplified to design novel concepts of 4D printed tubular moisture-driven structural actuators, using the hygromorphic properties of continuous flax fiber (cFF) reinforced materials.

Marine biofilm formation on flax fibre reinforced biocomposites.

Artificial reefs represent useful tools to revitalize coastal and ocean ecosystems. Their formulation determines the biofilm formation which is the prerequisite for the colonization process by marine micro- and macroorganisms. In comparison with concrete, biobased polymers offer improved characteristics, including architecture, formulation, rugosity and recycling.

Biobased and Programmable Electroadhesive Metasurfaces.

Electroadhesion has shown the potential to deliver versatile handling devices because of its simplicity of actuation and rapid response. Current electroadhesion systems have, however, significant difficulties in adapting to external objects with complex shapes. Here, a novel concept of metasurface is proposed by combining the use of natural fibers (flax) and shape memory epoxy polymers in a hygromorphic and thermally actuated composite (HyTemC).

Large datasets of water vapor sorption, mass diffusion immersed in water, hygroscopic expansion and mechanical properties of flax fibre/shape memory epoxy hygromorph composites.

This data article presents four experimental sets of results related to flax fibre composites with epoxy shape memory polymer matrix: water vapor absorption, mass diffusion immersed in water, hygroscopic expansion, mechanical properties. The water vapor absorption tests are described in raw data related to four types of laminates with weights measured at different relative humidity (0%, 9%, 33%, 44%,75%, 85% and 100%). The mass diffusion experiments are related to weights of immersed samples over time.