Composites Derived from Hydrothermal Carbon Microspheres and Citrate Ester: Towards Balanced Degradation, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties
摘要
Achieving a balance among degradation behavior, mechanical performance, and thermal stability is critical for meeting application requirements and ensuring sustainability, particularly for composites with inherent property limitations. Straw derived hydrothermal carbon microspheres were proposed to reinforce citrate ester composites and the ultimate goal was to seek an approach to achieve the balance between properties and sustainability of biocomposites. The results showed that the network structure within the composites was formed through strong ester and hydrogen bonding, which was directly responsible for their enhanced tensile properties. The resultant composites exhibited better degradation properties because the addition of hydrothermal carbon microspheres accelerated the degradation of citrate ester in both aqueous and phosphate-buffered saline environments. Adding hydrothermal carbon microspheres decreased the glass transition temperature due to the increase of the free volume and interfacial pathways, and increased the thermal stability due to the delay of maximum decomposition peak temperature of citrate ester. Among all the composites samples, the composite containing 3% HCS exhibited the most balanced and superior overall properties with the degradation rate of 37.56%, tensile strength of 1.25 MPa, tensile modulus of 0.23 MPa, and elongation at break of 52.69%. The mentioned composite is expected to provide referable process and properties in the composites field with specific requirements.