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Influence of Silanization Treatment of Sponge Gourd (Luffa cylindrica) Fibers on the Reinforcement of Polyester Composites: A Brief Report

Natural lignocellulosic fibers (NLFs) have been extensively investigated and applied as reinforcements for polymers composites owing to improved properties associated with their cost-effectiveness and their sustainable characteristics as compared to synthetic fibers. However, an intrinsic difficulty...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: de Melo, Eduarda Chiabai Rodrigues, Camillo, Mayara de Oliveira, Marcelino, Paulo Roberto Correia, Barbosa dos Santos da Silva, Roseméri, Colares Firmino, Thierry, Ferreira de Oliveira, Bárbara, Profeti, Demetrius, Camposo Pereira, Artur, Neves Monteiro, Sergio, Picanço Oliveira, Michel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9415829/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36015569
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14163311
Descripción
Sumario:Natural lignocellulosic fibers (NLFs) have been extensively investigated and applied as reinforcements for polymers composites owing to improved properties associated with their cost-effectiveness and their sustainable characteristics as compared to synthetic fibers. However, an intrinsic difficulty of the hydrophilic NFL adhesion to a hydrophobic polymer matrix is still a major limitation, which might be overcome via fiber surface treatments. Among the less-known NLFs, sponge gourd (Lufta cylindrica) is a promising reinforcement for polymer composites owing to its natural network of intertwined fibers. The present work investigated for the first time the influence of a chemical treatment using silane as a coupling agent for 30 wt.% sponge gourd incorporated into a polyester matrix composite. The novel composite performance was compared with that of an untreated fiber composite via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Charpy impact tests, and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). The XRD results revealed that the silanization increased the crystallinity index by 37%, which attests to the effective fiber–matrix interaction stretching of the C-H bond, as observed in its FTIR band. The silanization also increased the mean impact resistance by 10%. Although the temperatures associated with the beginning of the thermal degradation by the TGA were not affected, both the silane-treated fibers and composite displayed less thermal degradation compared with the untreated fibers. The scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) results disclosed an improved sponge gourd fiber morphology after the silanization, which caused greater adherence to the polyester matrix. These results revealed a promising novel composite compared with other NLF polymer composites in engineering applications.