TY - EJOU AU - Sousa, Samantha Andrade Vale de AU - Silva, Mercês Coelho da AU - Júnior, Orlando Gama da Silva AU - Mottin, Artur Caron AU - Oréfice, Rodrigo Lambert AU - Ayres, Eliane TI - Design and Characterization of Biocomposites from Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and Buriti Petiole (Mauritia flexuosa) T2 - Journal of Renewable Materials PY - 2017 VL - 5 IS - 3-4 SN - 2164-6341 AB - Buriti or miriti (Mauritia flexuosa) is a palm tree found in the Brazilian cerrado. Herein buriti petiole, part of the trunk that supports the leaves, was ground and used without any treatment as low density load to prepare poly(lactic acid) biocomposites. X-ray microtomography of buriti petiole showed its porous structure, with a wide pore size distribution determined with the aid of SEM. The obtained biocomposites with 1, 5 and 10 wt% of buriti petiole particles were investigated by their sessile drop contact angle, FTIR, TGA and tensile test. The tensile properties indicated poor adhesion between phases, which is crucial to optimize the biocomposite’s performance. Further studies with fiber treatment are being planned. KW - Buriti petiole KW - porous structure KW - PLA KW - biocomposites DO - 10.7569/JRM.2017.634115