Abstract
Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene Composites Reinforced with Macadamia Nutshell Fibers
Highlights
In recent years, natural fibers such pineapple, flax, jute, coconut, sugarcane bagasse, palm, and others have been extensively studied as an alternative to reinforce polymer matrix due to their advantages such as sustainable, low cost, low density and biodegradable features [1,2,3]
The alkaline treatment of natural fibers changes the orientation of highly packed crystalline cellulose and forms an amorphous region, which makes the interior of the fiber more accessible for chemical action
The micrographs of the untreated macadamia nutshell fibers presented a homogeneous surface (Fig. 1(a)), similar surfaces were observed on palm fibers and sugarcane bagasse [24, 25]
Summary
Natural fibers such pineapple, flax, jute, coconut, sugarcane bagasse, palm, and others have been extensively studied as an alternative to reinforce polymer matrix due to their advantages such as sustainable, low cost, low density and biodegradable features [1,2,3]. The alkaline treatment of natural fibers changes the orientation of highly packed crystalline cellulose and forms an amorphous region, which makes the interior of the fiber more accessible for chemical action. As an alternative for the redirection of residues from a factory near the region where this research is being developed, we chose the bark fiber as reinforcement in the composite. In this work it was evaluated the potential of macadamia nutshell fibers as reinforce in composites using polypropylene (PP) as matrix and an alternative surface treatment, in order to improve interfacial fiber/matrix adhesion.
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