Research Data Leeds Repository

Citation

King, James A., Hine, Peter J., Baker, Daniel L., Shi, Yu, Liu, Xiaoling, Lu, Jiawen, Li, Saihua, Cong, Xiaoye and Ries, Michael E. (2025) Data for Understanding Novel Biocomposites Comprising of Short Cellulose Fibres in a Hybrid Cellulose-Silk Fibroin Matrix. University of Leeds. [Dataset] https://doi.org/10.5518/1751

Dataset description

Data from Biopolymer blends offer a promising route to tunable, high-performance biomaterials, yet their potential in reinforced composites remains underexplored. This study investigates biocomposites produced by reinforcing a hybrid biopolymer matrix (90:10 cellulose:silk fibroin) with randomly oriented short cotton fibres and varying the reinforcement weight percentage. A pure cellulose matrix was tested for comparison. The composites were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), density analysis, tensile testing, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and acoustic insulation analysis. Optimal hybrid composites with 50 vol% reinforcement exhibited superior performance to pure cellulose, achieving a Young's modulus of 3.3 ± 0.3 GPa, strain at failure of 1.4 ± 0.2%, and maximum tensile strength of 42 + 6 MPa. These enhancements were attributed to the hybrid matrix's reduced viscosity and improved solvation capacity allowing higher fibre loading and stronger interfacial adhesion. In addition, the hybrid matrix's greater xtensibility enabled more efficient stress transfer to the fibres, maximising mechanical performance. Fibre content was identified as the primary driver of material modulus, underscoring the critical role of reinforcement. Flock content was then shown to correlate with improved acoustic insulation performance redto a maximum average acoustic transmission loss of 47 ± 7 dB in hybrid samples compared to 29 + 4 dB in cellulose samples. This work demonstrates the viability of hybrid biopolymer blends for creating low-density, high-performance materials from short-fibre textile waste with sustainable applications in insulative structural engineering.

Subjects:	J000 - Technologies > J400 - Polymers & textiles > J420 - Textiles technology > J421 - Textile chemistry
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures > School of Design Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences > School of Physics and Astronomy
Related resources:	Location Type https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2025.109459 Publication
License:	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Date deposited:	11 Dec 2025 09:23
URI:	https://archive.researchdata.leeds.ac.uk/id/eprint/1501
Additional details Additional details Creators or authors: Creators ORCID Other ID Email Primary affiliation Primary affiliation ID Primary affiliation ID type Secondary affiliation Secondary affiliation ID Secondary affiliation ID type King, James A. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4424-9118 University of Leeds https://ror.org/024mrxd33 ror Hine, Peter J. University of Leeds https://ror.org/024mrxd33 ror Baker, Daniel L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5145-3320 University of Leeds https://ror.org/024mrxd33 ror Shi, Yu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3891-7175 University of Leeds https://ror.org/024mrxd33 ror Liu, Xiaoling https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5347-255X Univeristy of Nottingham (Ningbo China) https://ror.org/03y4dt428 ror Lu, Jiawen https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4188-8854 Univeristy of Nottingham (Ningbo China) https://ror.org/03y4dt428 ror Li, Saihua Univeristy of Nottingham (Ningbo China) https://ror.org/03y4dt428 ror Cong, Xiaoye Univeristy of Nottingham (Ningbo China) https://ror.org/03y4dt428 ror Ries, Michael E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8050-3200 University of Leeds https://ror.org/024mrxd33 ror Type of data: Dataset Research funders: EPSRC Grant numbers: EP/S023631/1 Publication date: 2025 Resource language: English Metadata language: English Publisher: University of Leeds Contact email: m.e.ries@leeds.ac.uk Last Modified: 11 Dec 2025 10:21

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