Composite materials reinforced with natural fibers have shown to be promising to supply the technological demand of automotive and packaging industry sectors, among others. In this sense, cellulose fibers appear as potential substitutes for glass fibers in polymeric matrices due to factors such as lower cost, lower density and less abrasiveness to the equipment. However, the incorporation of natural fibers into polymer matrix commodities presents challenges, one of them being the physical-chemical incompatibility fiber-matrix. To overcome this obstacle, modification of the precursors and/or the addition of compatibilizers is generally carried out. Here it has been proposed to obtain a polymer matrix/cellulose composite in which the reinforcement is in the form of a network of fibers with the inter-diffused matrix between the fibers. In this configuration the fiber network is not destroyed and will be physically adhered to the matrix. For this, thin and porous cellulosic sheets were first produced. Then they were hot-pressed with commercial films called Parafilm (used as the polymer matrix) in a commercial plasticizing machine. The cellulosic fiber sheets and the polymer matrix were characterized by infrared analysis and thermal tests. Microscopy images confirm the formation of the proposed microstructure: (1) the reinforcement is composed of a continuous network of fibers well distributed by the polymer matrix; (2) SEM images prove that the matrix permeates and fills the spaces between the cellulose fibers. Following the work, efforts are being directed in order to: increase the amount of reinforcement in the composite; and to optimize the process to use conventional nonpolar matrices (which have similar polarity to Parafilm).

Cellulose fiber network as reinforcement of thermoplastic films

2019 Fall National Meeting

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