Investigating the mechanical thermal and polymer interfacial characteristics of Jordanian lignocellulosic fibers to demonstrate their capabilities for sustainable green materials

Abstract

Abstract The available natural lignocellulosic fibers have different capabilities and features from various standpoints. As they are essential for bio-materials and green products, it is of paramount importance to better valorize and reveal the potential of new fibers form renewable sources worldwide. In this work, systematic investigations of the capabilities of the Mediterranean lignocellulosic fibers were carried out considering various mechanical, thermal, and fiber-polymer interfacial adhesion characteristics for the first time. This was performed to properly valorize such fibers as well as finding new sources of low-cost lignocellulosic materials for sustainable industry. Various Jordanian lignocellulosic fibers, namely, the residues of olive trees, lemons, loquats and palms were examined regarding the tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation to break as well as thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). This was to determine their loss of weight characteristics under heat effect including the water loss behavior as well as their decomposition processes to reveal and valorize their potential characteristics comparable with the commonly used fibers worldwide. Systematic comparisons between the studied fibers and commonly used ones were also conducted regarding the considered characteristics. Results have revealed that Jordanian fibers were very promising for the bio-based materials compared to other commonly used fibers. The Jordanian palm fiber type was the best regarding the tensile strength with a value of 160 MPa, tensile modulus (5 GPa) and the elongation to break. Lemon and loquat on the other hand, were better in thermal characteristics than several other commonly used fibers. It was revealed that the mass loss variations of both lemon and loquat were wide. It was almost doubled for lemon (7.2% at 140 °C to 14.07% at 190 °C). Good thermal stabilities were shown for both palm and olive fiber types. Palm fibers demonstrated a mass loss of 18.8% at 140 °C but only 24.3% at 240 °C, which theoretically demonstrated their suitability for various mechanical and electrical applications including door panels, insulations, furniture industry, packaging, circuit boards, dielectric substrates and switches. The results of TGA have demonstrated that all of the considered fibers have less than 25% weight loss at 240 °C that making them suitable for bio-materials for various industrial applications with relatively high thermal stability.