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955
Received: May 14, 2004; Revised: September 7, 2004; Accepted: September 8, 2004; DOI: 10.1002/mame.200400132
Keywords: biocomposites; biofibers; hybridization; matrix; mechanical properties
1. Introduction
Present-day research in the field of polymer science and
technology has been focused on developing plastics, papers,
adhesives, textile fibers, composites, blends, and many
other industrial products from renewable resources, mostly
the abundantly available agro-waste and lignocellulosic
materials. Newer materials and composites that have both
economic and environmental benefits are being considered
for application in the automotive, building, furniture, and
packaging industries. Growing environmental awareness,
new rules, and regulations throughout the world for the
creation of bio-based economy are challenging industry,
academia, government, and agriculture. Within the past few
Macromol. Mater. Eng. 2004, 289, 955974
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2. Availability, Composition,
Structure and Properties
The source, origin, nature as well as physical and chemical
composition of different natural fibers have been
reviewed.[44,45] Natural fibers are subdivided based on their
origins, coming from plants, animals or minerals. Generally, plant or vegetable fibers are used to reinforce plastics.
Plant-fibers may include (i) leaf: sisal, pineapple leaf fiber
(PALF), and henequen; (ii) bast: flax, ramie, kenaf/mesta,
hemp, and jute; (iii) seed: cotton; (iv) fruit: coconut husk,
i.e., coir. Climatic conditions, age, and the digestion process
influence not only the structure of fibers but also the
chemical composition. The components of natural fibers are
cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, waxes, and watersoluble substances, with cellulose, hemicellulose, and
lignin as the basic components with regard to the physical
properties of the fibers. The chemical composition and
structural parameters of PALF and sisal are represented in
Table 1 whereas Table 2 comprises the important properties
of these two fibers. A single fiber of all plant-based natural
fibers consists of several cells.[11] These cells are formed out
of crystalline microfibrils based on cellulose, which are
connected to a complete layer, by amorphous lignin and
hemicellulose. Multiple layers of such cellulose-lignin/
hemicellulose in one primary and three secondary cell walls
stick together to form a multiple-layer-composite, the cell.
These cell walls differ in their composition (ratio between
cellulose and lignin/hemicellulose) and in the orientation
2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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Cellulose/wt.-%
Lignin/wt.-%
Hemicellulose/wt.-%
Pectin/wt.-%
Wax/wt.-%
Microfibrillar-spiral angle/degree
Moisture content/wt.-%
PALF
Sisal
7082
512
14
11.8
6778
812
1014.2
10
2
20
11
(spiral angle) of the cellulose microfibrils. The characteristic values for these structural parameters vary from one
natural fiber to another as well as by physico-chemical fiber
treatments.
The spiral angle of the fibrils and the content of cellulose
generally determine the mechanical properties of the
cellulose-based natural fibers. For instance, models developed by Hearle et al.[46] considers these two structure
parameters to calculate the Youngs modulus of the fibers.
The basic idea of the model has been described by Hearle
and Sparrow[46] and the model has been applied by
Mukherjee and Satyanarayana[47] on various natural fibers.
2.1.2. Processing
Fibers are obtained by either mechanical means or retting
the leaves in water. Fresh leaves yield about 2 to 3% of
fiber.[51] The fiber is multicellular with very small lumen
size almost like a line. The filaments of PALF being stronger and finer than jute, have been successfully spun to a fine
yarn on jute machinery.[50] Some techniques are also being
developed for processing PALF on jute machinery. Jute
finisher, a card and a flax finisher with progressively, higher
density are used as the first and the second cards, respectively, for PALF instead of conventional breaker and
finisher card. The optimum twist factor in the case of PALF
yarn is found to be of the order of 24 to 27 tex to cm units in
yarn of 70 tex.
2.1.1. Production
PALF is largely cultivated in tropical countries, mainly for
its fruits. Its cultivation in India is substantial (about
2 250 000 acres of land is cultivated[49] and is increasing; in
the future a considerable increase in the production of the
fiber is envisaged). The pineapple plant has a very short
stem which first produces a rosette of leaves but which latter
Table 2.
sisal.[2]
Properties
Density/(g cm3)
Diameter/mm
Tensile strength/MPa
Youngs modulus/GPa
Elongation at break/%
PALF
Sisal
1.44
2080
4131 627
34.582.51
1.6
1.45
50200
468640
9.422.0
37
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2.1.4. Properties
The superior mechanical properties of pineapple leaf fiber
are associated with its high cellulose content and comparatively low microfibrillar angle. Both the flexural and
torsional rigidity of PALF are comparable with jute fibers.
An interesting characteristic of PALF is that the bundle
strength of PALF decreases by 50% when in a wet condition
but the yarn strength increases by about 13%. Studies of
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2.2.1. Production
Though native to tropical and sub-tropical North and South
America, sisal plant is now widely grown in tropical
countries of Africa, the West Indies and the Far East.[40]
Nearly 4.5 million tons of sisal fiber are produced every year
throughout the world. Tanzania and Brazil are the two main
producing countries.[53]
A sisal plant produces about 200250 leaves and each
leaf contains 1 0001 200 fiber bundles, which is composed
of 4% fiber, 0.75% cuticle, 8% dry matter, and 87.25%
water.[61] The sisal leaf contains three types of fibers:[40]
mechanical, ribbon, and xylem. The mechanical fibers are
mostly extracted from the periphery of the leaf. They have a
more or less thickened horseshoe shape and seldom divide
during extraction processes. They are the most predominant
fibers and their fineness dictates the grading and general
commercial usefulness of sisal fiber. Ribbon fibers occur in
association with the conducting tissues in the median line
of the leaf, which gives them considerable mechanical
strength. Xylem fibers have an irregular shape and occur
opposite to the ribbon fibers through the connection of vascular bundles. They are composed of thin-walled cells and
are therefore easily broken up and lost during the extraction
process.
2.2.2. Processing
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2.2.4. Properties
Sisal fibers having both crystalline and non-crystalline
components when subjected to tension are expected to
undergo deformation as in the case of banana fibers.[65] The
applied stress initially is shared between the crystalline and
non-crystalline components in fibrous composites and the
extent to which the fiber resists deformation in this low
strain region is called initial modulus of the fiber. The
effective modulus (Ef) may also be calculated in terms of
major chemical components present in the fiber and is given
by the equation according to McLaughlin and Tait:[61,66]
Ef Wc Ec cos2 y Wnc Enc
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3. Surface Modifications
The quality of the fiber-matrix interface is significant for
the application of natural fibers (PALF and sisal) as
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Scheme 1.
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Control
Alkali treated
Cyanoethylated
Acetylated
Tensile
strength
Youngs
modulus
Elongation
at break
N mm2
GN mm2
575
460
680
637
14.9
10.6
22.5
19.7
3.9
4.1
7.1
6.5
including thermoplastics and thermosets, for the preparation of high performance composites. Joseph et al.[85]
treated sisal fibers with maleic anhydride grafted poly(propylene) (MAH-PP) in order to improve the interfacial
adhesion between the fiber and the PP matrix in sisal/PP
composite. The beneficial effect of maleated PP on the
strength properties of sisal/PP composites have been attributed to the esterification reaction between cellulosic fiber
hydroxyl groups and anhydride functionality of maleated
PP. The mechanism of reaction can be divided into two
steps:
. activation of the copolymer by heating (Scheme 3)
. esterification of cellulose (Scheme 4)
Scheme 2.
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Scheme 3.
Scheme 4.
Scheme 5.
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Table 4. Effect of chemical treatment on mechanical properties of PALF-polyester composite (Fiber length 30 mm, Fiber content
30 wt.-%).[88]
Type/nature of treatment
Tensile strength
Elongation at break
Youngs modulus
Flexural strength
Flexural modulus
MPa
MPa
MPa
GPa
52.9
55.4
73.5
52.7
42.7
3.6
4.7
4.3
3.5
3.6
2 290
1 460
2 690
2 260
80.2
77.4
85.6
79.6
71.5
2.76
2.93
2.84
2.55
Untreated
2% NaOH (treated for 1 h)
Silane A172
Silane A1100
Glacial acetic acid and
acetic anhydride
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0
10
20
30
40
965
Control
Defatted
Alkali treated
Cyanoethylated
AN-grafted (5%)
AN-grafted (10%)
AN-grafted (20%)
Macromol. Mater. Eng. 2004, 289, 955974
80.3
81.4
91.5
102.0
76.9
83.3
57.9
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Control
Defatted
Alkali treated (5%)
Alkali treated (10%)
Bleached (75 8C)
Cyanoethylated (50 8C)
Cyanoethylated (60 8C)
Cyanoethylated (70 8C)
AN-grafted (5%)
AN-grafted (10%)
AN-grafted (20%)
MMA-grafted (5%)
MMA-grafted (10%)
MMA-grafted (20%)
163.6
172.8
197.9
167.2
171.2
171.3
192.5
175.4
160.3
171.2
102.4
158.3
169.7
99.4
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Table 9.
Composite samples
Water absorption
(24h)
%
PALF-polyester
PALF/glass hybrid polyester
Sisal-polyester
Sisal/glass hybrid polyester
Sisal/glass hybrid polyester
(alkali treated sisal)
Sisal/glass hybrid polyester
(cyanoethylated sisal)
Sisal/glass hybrid polyester (acetylated sisal)
12.49
7.6
10.59
7.24
5.55
5.82
5.24
4.7. Biocomposites
Luo and Netravali[136] have reported the mechanical and
thermal properties of bio/green composites obtained from
PALF (with fiber content up to 28%) and Biopol1. The tensile strength and modulus of the biocomposites increased
significantly as compared to pure Biopol1, in the longitudinal direction but decreased in the transverse direction
with an increase of fiber content. The interfacial and
Table 8. Impact (izod) strength of sisal/glass hybrid polyester
composites with different surface treated sisal fiber (sisal
24.3 wt.-%, glass 5.7 wt.-%).[133]
Surface treated sisal
Control
Alkali treated (5%)
Alkali treated (10%)
Cyanoethylated
Acetylated
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143.8
167.4
147.2
155.9
164.7
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5. Conclusion
The composites made up of two biofibers, PALF and sisal
aim to partially replace the conventional and pollution
Table 10. Comparative account of properties of untreated
biofiber-polyester amide (BAK 1095) composites (fiber content
50 wt.-%).[138]
Property
Tensile strength/MPa
Flexural strength/MPa
Weight loss/%
Decrease in flexural strength/%
Macromol. Mater. Eng. 2004, 289, 955974
Sisal-BAK
PALF-BAK
59.9
78.1
8.2
23.0
29.6
40.0
9.2
11.0
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