Curau Fiber - A Tropical Natural Fibers From Amazons Potential and Applications in Composites

摘要

Several natural fibers, such as curaua. coir, jute, ramie and sisal were studied in this project. Non-woven, and composites of polypropylene with different natural fiber were prepared. The preparation of natural fiber-polypropylene composites were using several combinations of plastics and fibers for injection molding. The non-woven mats were production with long plants fibers combined with polypropylene and residues. Several combinations of plastics and fibers were studied. Combinations of three components were also studied, such as viscose-jute-polypropylenc. in different ratios. The mechanical properties of the composites and non-woven with different fibers were compared. The natural fibers tested showed a great potential for applications as reinforcement in composites based on polypropylene. Curaua was the best fiber among the tested with jute in second place . Short Fibers as sugar cane bagasse, coir and wood did not had a good performance in all the properties studied. Recycled material (milk cartons) showed good results, indicating that are a potential source of raw material for natural fibers rein forced composites.