LIGNOCELLULOSIC FIBERS OF BRAZIL: STRUCTURE, PROPERTIES, APPLICATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

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LIGNOCELLULOSIC FIBERS OF BRAZIL STRUCTURE,
PROPERTIES, APPLICATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON NATURAL FIBRES 2009
SEPTEMBER 09 11, SALVADOR BAHIA - BRAZIL
K.G. Satyanarayana
Programa De Pós-Graduação em Engenharia e
Ciencia dos Materiais (PIPE) Departamento de
Química UFPR, Curitiba-PR
kgs_satya_at_yahoo.co.in
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OUTLINE

• INTRODUCTION
• SOURCE, AVAILABILITY AND EXTRACTION METHODS
• STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF FIBERS
• APPLICATIONS
• PERSPECTIVES/SUGGESTIONS
• CONCLUDING REMARKS

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INTRODUCTION

• Natural resources such as lignocellulosic fibers
  main contributors to ?
• Gross domestic product (GDP)
• Social and economic developments, particularly
  for developing countries such as Brazil.
• An increasing trend not only for their
  utilization through new processes and products
  but also to find new sources of these fibers

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INTRODUCTION Contd.

• MOTIVATING FACTORS
• Successful use of Lignocellulosic fiber based
  composites in automotive, building and various
  engineering applications.
• Attracted increased attention as evident from the
  growing literature.
• Main provider of opportunities to improve the
  standard of living of people around the world.

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Schematic of Renewable Materials Cycle
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INTRODUCTION Contd.
MOTIVATING FACTORS

• Use of Lignocellulosic (LC) materials in the
  preparation of composites? known since
  historical times particularly due to the
  existence of these sources throughout the world.
• Some of them being abundant in the tropics?
  (Primary production of 2x1011 metric tons in 2000
  as compared to 1.5x108 metric tons of synthetic
  polymers).
• Share of natural fibers including cotton is 44.3
  of the total 54.2 million metric tons of the
  world inventory of fibers.

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INTRODUCTION Contd.
MOTIVATING FACTORS
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Advantages of USE of Plant Fibers

• Low cost - less than the base resin
• Fully and easily recyclable
• Reduced molding cycle time - up to 30
• Non-abrasive to machinery
• Natural appearance
• Low thermal expansion coefficient
• Low mold shrinkage
• Easily colored
• High flexural modulus - up to 5X base resin
• High tensile modulus - up to 5X base resin
• High notched impact - up to 2X base resin
• Lower processing energy requirements
• Meets minimum recycle content requirements

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SOURCE, AVAILABILITY AND EXTRACTION METHODS
Classification of Lignocellulosic FIBRES Three
categories depending on the part from which they
are extracted Bast / Stem fibers (Banana,
Buriti, Jute, Piassava) Leaf fibers (Curaua,
Pineapple, Sisal) Fruit fibers (Babassu, Coir,
Sponge gourd-Luffa)
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BRAZILIAN FIBER SOURCES FIBERS
Sponge gourd
Malva
Piassava
Buriti
c
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EXTRACTION METHODS
(a) Decorticator used for banana, jute,
pineapple (b) Periquita used for curauá, jute
(c) Retting used for coir (d) Manual extraction
used for coir (e) Mechanical extractor for coir
(f) Splitting using knife for fibers such as
malva, piaçava.
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Lignocellulosic Fibers of Brazil
Photographs of Some Plant Fibers (a) long
sheaths of banana plant (b) jute (c) malva (d)
piaçava (e) curauá (f) sisal (g) coir (h)
Luffa cylindrica.
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Lignocellulosic Fibers of Brazil
Lignocellulosic reinforcements. (a) Banana (b)
sugarcane bagasse (c) curauá
(a)
(b)
(c)
Typical pattern of reinforcements used in the
hybrid LC based biodegradable composite synthesis
(a) Jute fabric (b) ramiecotton fabric. (c)
jutecotton fabric.
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Production data on some Brazilian fibers (IGBE
August 2009)
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MORPHOLOGY OF SOME BRAZILIAN FIBERS
c

b
a

f
d
e
ad Cross sections of Banana and Bagasse fibers
bc Cross-section, longitudinal and fracture of
Piassava fiber cd Cross- section and
longitudinal views of Sponge gourd.
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Structure of Plant Fiber
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FRACTOGRPHY OF SOME BRAZILIAN FIBERS
(a) Coir-tensile tested5mm/minx1000 (b)
helical spiral in the fractured surface Ref.
J.Appl.Polym.Sci., 76(2000) 1197-1206 (c) Coir
tensile tested showing fibrils pull out (d)
Pineapple tensile tested (e) Curaúa-50mm/min
x500 (f) Curaúa-50mm/min x100 (g) Fracture of
Piassava fiber (h) Fracture of Buriti fiber.
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Chemical Composition of Brazilian fibers
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Physical Properties of Brazilian fibers
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Physical Properties of Brazilian fibers(Contd.)
Coir
Curaua
X-ray diffraction patterns of Brazilian fibers
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Physical Properties of Brazilian fibers (Contd.)
a - Calculated
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Tensile Properties of Brazilian fibers
a - Calculated b - Diameter 30-60m, Test
length- 20mm and Strain rate-5mm/min c- MOR
Modulus of Rupture d-for fibers of diameter
0.04-0.40mm e-for fibers of diameter 0.26-0.64mm
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Tensile Properties of Brazilian fibers(Contd.)
Stress Strain Curves of Brazilian Curaua Fiber
for different diameters
Typical stressstrain curve for a coir fiber
(a) present study and (b) Indian fiber
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Tensile Properties of Brazilian fibers(Contd.)
Effect of diameter on Tensile Properties of Coir
fibres (Gauge length 20mm Strain rate
5m.mi/min)
Effect of test length on Tensile Properties of
Curauá fiber (Diameter 46µmStrain rate 5
mm.min-1)
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Thermal Behavior of Brazilian fibers
Thermal Characteristics of Some Brazilian fibers
a-DTA/DTG of Banana fiber b DSC curve of
Sponge Gourd c DTA/TGA of coir fiber d DMA
of coir fiber in dried state.
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Products based on Brazilian Fibers

• Coir fiber based Chair (b) Piassava fiber based
  Helmet (c) Coir fiber based Roofing (d)
  Ramie-Cotton Hybrid Fabrics. (Courtesy Elsevier
  Inc Publishers and NATPAC Biotech UK Eds of
  Proc. ISNaPol, May 14-17, 2000, Sao Pedro, SP,
  Brasil).

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PERSPECTIVES

• Recognizing Lignocellulosic fibers are
• (a) Eco-friendly throughout their life cycle
• (b) Possess unique characteristics
• (c) Availability of large amount of such fibers
  in Brazil
• (d) No cataloguing of reported properties of
  various fibers in relation to their sources
• (e) Absence of systematic studies on the
  evaluation of types of properties of various
  fibers by any groups and complimentality of
  research efforts?

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• Development needs ?
• (a) Development of degradation models for
  Lignocellulosic fibers as has been done for
  glass fibers.
• (b) Component-dependent and nondependent blending
  of lignocellulosic fibers
• (c) Development of appropriate reinforcements to
  obtain optimum balance in mechanical properties
  through concept of engineered natural fibers to
  get proper balance of stiffnesstoughness in the
  composites relevant in the fabrication of hybrid
  biocomposites.

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PERSPECTIVES (Contd.)

• These exercises ?
• (a) Promote sustained and cooperative RD
  activities
• (b) Encourage researchers to expand the fiber
  resources in the country ? Maintenance of
  efficiency and sustainability of the
  lignocellulosic fibers.

CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE MATERIALS OF 21st
CENTURY ? PLANT FIBERS/CROP BASED
POLYMERS-ECO-FRIENDLINESS
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SUGGESTIONS
Suggested Policy Measures

• CREATION OF A NODAL AGENCY BY THE GOVERNMENT WITH
  THE RESPONSIBILITY
• To generate data bank on various lignocellulosic
  materials available in the country
• To catalogue all the reported properties of these
  materials particularly of fibers
• To bring out the existing gaps including
  non-availability of such data for some of the
  fibers
• To identify and form research groups in academic
  and research institutions with appropriate
  funding to carry out systematic studies on
  structure and properties of fibers using the
  latest instruments to fill the above mentioned
  gaps
• To monitor and coordinate all these activities.
• Enable the country to have complete data bank on
  the fiber resources and their properties to help
  future developments involving lignocellulosic
  fibers of the country.

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SUGGESTIONS (Contd.)
Suggested Policy Measures (Contd).

• Improve societal infrastructure for extraction
  and separate collection of all lignocellulosic
  fibers.
• Promote applied research projects through more
  investments into Science and Technology for the
  development of the main fiber producing areas of
  the country such as the North and Northeast of
  Brazil as well into Academic and Research
  Institutions for systematic characterization of
  lignocellulsoic fibers.
• Tax incentives favoring renewable raw materials.
• Public procurement raw materials for
  Lignocellulosic fibrous materials.

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SUGGESTIONS (Contd.)

• Production of quality fibers suitable for
  different applications adopting better
  cultivation procedures including use of genetic
  engineering.
• Continuous supply of quality assured fibers of
  optimized properties for different applications.
• Attempts to achieve improved properties of these
  fibers through modern techniques including
  nanotechnology to produce nanofibers / whiskers.
• Explore and Expand unconventional applications
• (a) Carbonization of lignocellulosic fibers
  to produce high surface area carbon?
  filler/reinforcement in a suitable matrix to
  develop high temperature materials.
• (b) Attempt for the use of cost effective
  and suitable less known fibers such as buriti,
  babassu fibers for particular applications such
  as development of composites.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS

• Search for new sources of lignocellulosic is
  increasing due to increasing ecological
  considerations, their low cost and the dwindling
  petroleum resources required for synthetic
  fibers.
• A large number of lignocellulosic fibers are
  available in Brazil with reasonable published
  data on their morphology and various useful
  properties as well as their conventional and
  unconventional applications.
• There are still many gaps such as non
  availability of structure-property data on many
  fibers of the country, which needs to be looked
  into.

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CONCLUDING REMARKS Contd

• Above leads to opening up new avenues for many of
  known Brazilian fibers while bringing out many
  unknown fibers into limelight.
• Use of lignocellulosic fibers in new areas such
  as composites? Generate jobs in both rural and
  urban areas, reduces waste contributes to
  healthier environment.
• Lead to use of local materials with manufacturing
  or products, financial and technological
  capabilities ?meeting local demands.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Prof. Adalberrto and other Organizers of this
  International Congress for the kind invitation
  hospitality.
• Brazilian Funding Agencies-Department of
  Education, Aruaucaria Foundation, CNPq.
• My Collegues Prof. Fernando Wypych, Prof. Luiz
  Pereira Ramos of UFPR and Prof. Sergio Neves
  Monteiro for their collaboration and
  co-operation.
• Students of Doctoral Masters at UFPR for some
  of the experimental work presented.
• Audience for their patience and participation.