Flexible Hybrid Ceramic Composite Production from Hemp Oil and Waste Mussels/Egg Shells

Abstract

Eggshells and mussel shells have become significant sources in the search for natural and renewable raw materials suitable for manufacturing flexible ceramic materials. This study enabled the development of flexible ceramic composites with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix using eggshell, mussel shell, and hemp oil. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) revealed the presence of dust particles obtained from the shells produced in composite films with high Ca content. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed peaks belonging to calcite and aragonite phases and the prominent peak of PVA at 19.4 degrees. All ceramic composite samples showed characteristic absorption peaks at about 1430, 860, and 710 cm-1 in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, which were attributed to the bending vibration and asymmetric stretching of CO32-, confirming the presence of CaCO3 in eggshell and mussel shell powders. The produced composite films have the most dramatic tensile strength of 17.06 MPa, and it has been identified that the strength decreased as the amount of powder increased. While the Shore-A hardness of the composites increased by 3.5 times with the increase in the amount of powder, their swelling rates decreased by 400 %. The study sheds light on producing newgeneration, eco-friendly, flexible ceramic composite materials.