PHOTOACOUSTIC THERMAL CHARACTERIZATION OF BURITI FIBERS

摘要

Natural fibers are attracting the interest of engineering sectors owing to specific advantages such as lightweight and lower cost as well as for their inherent condition of being renewable, biodegradable, recyclable and environmentally correct material with respect to CO_2 emission. In particular, the fiber extracted from the petiole of buriti palm is nowadays recognized by its mechanical properties. However, the thermal properties of the buriti fibers have not yet been fully investigated. The present work had as its objective to investigate, by photoacoustic spectroscopy and photothermic techniques, the properties related to the diffusivity, specific capacity and conductivity for the buriti fiber. The results revealed that these fibers showed a superior thermal insulation capacity.