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Canna~Fangled Abstracts

Enhancing the Mechanical Performance of Bleached Hemp Fibers Reinforced Polyamide 6 Composites: A Competitive Alternative to Commodity Composites

By May 2, 2020July 14th, 2020No Comments
. 2020 May 2;12(5):1041.

doi: 10.3390/polym12051041.

Francisco J Alonso-Montemayor 1, Quim Tarrés 2, Helena Oliver-Ortega 2, F Xavier Espinach 3, Rosa Idalia Narro-Céspedes 1, Adali O Castañeda-Facio 1, Marc Delgado-Aguilar 1
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Free PMC article

Abstract

Automotive and industrial design companies have profusely used commodity materials like glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene. These materials show advantageous ratios between cost and mechanical properties, but poor environmental yields. Natural fibers have been tested as replacements of glass fibers, obtaining noticeable tensile strengths, but being unable to reach the strength of glass fiber-reinforced composites. In this paper, polyamide 6 is proposed as a matrix for cellulosic fiber-based composites. A variety of fibers were tensile tested, in order to evaluate the creation of a strong interphase. The results show that, with a bleached hardwood fiber-reinforced polyamide 6 composite, it is possible to obtain tensile strengths higher than glass-fiber-reinforced polyolefin. The obtained composites show the existence of a strong interphase, allowing us to take advantage of the strengthening capabilities of such cellulosic reinforcements. These materials show advantageous mechanical properties, while being recyclable and partially renewable.

 

Keywords: biocomposites, cellulose, mechanical properties, micromechanics

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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