Experimental analysis of toughness and modulus of rupture increase of sisal short fiber reinforced hemihydrated gypsum.pdf

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Composite Interfaces, Vol. 14, No. 7–9, pp. 605– 616 (2007)  VSP 2007.

Influence of chemical treatments on the interfacial adhesion between sisal fibre and different biodegradable polymers
V. ALVAREZ 1 , I. MONDRAGÓN 2 and A. VÁZQUEZ 1,∗
1 Research

Institute of Material Science and Technology (INTEMA), CONICET- Engineering Faculty, Juan B. Justo 4302 (7600) Mar del Plata, Argentina 2 Materials and Technologies Group, Dpto. Ingeniería Química y M. Ambiente, Escuela Universitaria Politécnica, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea/Universidad del País Vasco, Pza Europa 1, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain Received 11 June 2006; accepted 11 October 2006 Abstract—The influence of chemical treatments on the interfacial adhesion of sisal fibres and biodegradable matrices were studied in the present work. For that purpose, four different polymers were used: polycaprolactone (PCL), cellulose acetate, MaterBi Z (a commercial starch/polycaprolactone blend) and MaterBi Y (a commercial starch/cellulose derivatives blend). Alkaline and acetylation treatments were performed on sisal fibres. Properties were determined by means of tensile tests, adhesion measurements and contact angle determination. The interfacial shear strength was correlated with the hydrophilic character of the material. Keywords: Biodegradable polymers; natural fibres; interfacial adhesion; chemical treatments; mechanical properties.

1. INTRODUCTION

Composites based on natural fibres and biodegradable polymers are very interesting from economical and environmental points of view. The mechanical properties of composites are strongly dependent on the fibre–matrix interfacial bonding that is related to their physical and chemical characteristics [1]. All vegetable fibres are hydrophilic in nature, which is one of their main disadvantages because of their incompatibility with non-polar polymers, especially thermoplastics. In addition, their poor resistance to moisture