The interest in producing cost-effective 3D printed metallic materials is increasing day by day. One of these methods, which has gained much attention recently, is the fused deposition modelling (FDM) method. The parameters used in the FDM method have significant effects on the printed part properties. In this study, CuSn10 bronze alloy was successfully produced. The printing speed and layer thickness were investigated as the printing process parameters, and their effect on morphological properties was characterized by using SEM. As a result, it was observed that the formation of printing-induced voids was prevented by applying a layer thickness of 0.2 mm. Additionally, by increasing printing speed, a slight decrease in product density was observed. Following determination of 3D printing parameters which give the highest printed part density, the parts were debound in hexane solution via solvent debinding. Finally, the parts were sintered at 850, 875 and 900 °C for 5 h to examine effect of sintering temperature on density, porosity, shape deformation and mechanical properties. Although partial slumping started to form over 875 °C, the highest density (94.19% of theoretical density) and strength (212 ± 17.72 MPa) were obtained by using 900 °C as the sintering temperature.

The aim is to explore the utilization of cellulosic fibers extracted from the Taraxacum Sect. Ruderalia, which is also known as dandelion, introduces a potential reinforcement for the green composite industry. This research is focused on the analysis of chemical, physical, thermal, and morphological properties of the Taraxacum Sect. Ruderalia fibers. Its lightweight (1.397 g/cm³) with the presence of an acceptable cellulose ratio (52.7%) and high crystallinity (69.59%) provide comparable tensile strength (57.36 MPa) and Young’s modulus (2.96 GPa) for Taraxacum Sect. Ruderalia fibers. The fibers are experimentally thermal resistant to 272°C according to TGA that may be profitable in extrusion processes in polymeric composite manufacturing. The average fiber diameter and wall thickness were optically 233 µm and 1.5 µm, respectively. Taraxacum Sect. Ruderalia fibers have a rough surface character with some irregularities such as porosities, particles, indentations, protrusions, and also the microfibrillar structure which can support mechanical interlocking with polymer in a composite system. With all these encouraging properties, Taraxacum Sect. Ruderalia fibers can be good alternative reinforcement for common cellulosic bast fibers in the development of ecologically friendly and sustainable polymeric-based materials.

The objective of the present research was to investigate the efficiency of alkali treatment on obtaining fine banana fibers. The fibers were exposed to alkali aqueous solutions at different concentrations changing from 5 to 20 wt%. The acting mechanism of the alkali treatment is removing of non-cellulosic constituents and separating the fiber bundle into smaller elementary single fibers. The efficiency of the alkali treatments was analyzed with the help of optical observations, fiber diameter measurement, single fiber tensile test and determination of pectin component. Chemical, crystalline, thermal and morphological properties of the fibers were examined by FTIR, XRD, TGA and SEM, respectively. FTIR analyses proved the removal of non-cellulosic components such as hemicellulose and lignin after alkali treatment. Fiber diameter decreased with increasing concentration of alkali treatment. Tensile properties and crystallinity index are correlated with alkali concentration. However, cellulose structure of the banana fiber was altered at mild alkali treatments. Microscopic observations revealed the appearance of single elementary fibers from the fiber bundle of the banana. These experimental findings suggested that alkali treatment can play promising role to prepare lignocellulosic fibers for textile applications.