@Article{jrm.2020.010291,
AUTHOR = {Alexandra Augusta Reichert, Mariana Ribas de Sá, Gabriela Escobar Hochmuller da Silva, Cesar Augusto Gonçalves Beatrice, André Ricardo Fajardo, Amanda Dantas de Oliveira},
TITLE = {Utilization of Pineapple Crown Fiber and Recycled Polypropylene for Production of Sustainable Composites},
JOURNAL = {Journal of Renewable Materials},
VOLUME = {8},
YEAR = {2020},
NUMBER = {10},
PAGES = {1327--1341},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/jrm/v8n10/40072},
ISSN = {2164-6341},
ABSTRACT = {Nowadays, the production of consumer goods is based on the use of
non-renewable raw materials, which in recent years has been performing as a problem for the environment. Considering the large number of available biofibers in
nature, their use in the development of polymeric composites has inevitably
emerged, it is also necessary to take into account the countless discarded plastics
that still have the potential to be reused. In this work, fibers were extracted from
pineapple crown residues and utilized to compose sustainable composites using
recycled polypropylene from cups discarded in the trash as a matrix. However,
it is known that for good performance, it is necessary to achieve a good chemical
interaction between the fiber and the matrix. In order to improve this interaction,
alkaline mercerization treatment was carried out on the surface of the fibers
removing some components incompatible with the polymer. In this work, the
effect of the mercerization treatment on the properties of the fibers was studied,
as well as their interaction with the matrix. The effect of fiber concentration on
the mechanical and thermal properties of composites was also evaluated. Levels
of 5 and 7 wt% were used for both natural and mercerized fibers. A decrease
in the number of degradation stages was observed through thermogravimetry analyses (from four in natural fiber to two in mercerized fibers), showing that the
mercerization performed on the fibers was effective. An increase in the degree
of crystallinity of mercerized fibers was also observed through the results of
X-ray diffraction. Both techniques indicate that amorphous compounds, such as
hemicellulose and lignin, were partially removed. Through the tensile test, it
could be noted that all composites presented higher values of de elastic modulus
than recycled polypropylene without added load; however, there were no differences in the elastic modulus between the different types of fibers and load levels.
Therefore, it is interesting to use fibers as reinforcing agents in polymers; however, the treatment did not increase the mechanical properties of the composites. In parallel, other factors, such as the dispersion of the components, must be
taken into account to justify this result.},
DOI = {10.32604/jrm.2020.010291}
}