Madeira plástica de carnaúba (Copernícia Prunifera), produzida com resinas de polipropileno e polietileno – processo, produto e características

Abstract

The elaboration of polymeric composites reinforced with natural fibers has gained a lot of space nowadays, because the application of biomass proves to be satisfactory in the elaboration of polymeric composites, with more environmentally favorable perspectives when compared to the reinforcement materials used in the present. The most used mechanical reinforcement materials are based on fiberglass, with several provisions, being applied in micronized, short, long, biaxial, triaxial forms, among others. The application of lignocellulosic biomass, as a reinforcement agent and as a filling charge, is a good possibility for a better use of biomass in the state of Ceará, and the use of carnauba straw biomass (Copernícia Prunifera) for wood production plastic, is the goal of this work. When the lignocellulosic material content exceeds 30%, the composite formed can be qualified as plastic wood, receiving the acronym WPC (Wood Plastic Composite). In this work, a polymer composite of polypropylene resin (PP-WPC) and a polymer composite of polyethylene resin (PE-WPC) respectively with 50 and 70% carnauba straw, were produced and characterized and the operational aspects related to its production, mechanical characterization and technical feasibility were qualified. The fibers were characterized for extractive, cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, moisture and ash contents, and the composites produced were characterized by tensile, impact, melt flow index, filler content, ash content, density, colorimetric evaluation, weathering tests accelerated artificial. The mechanical tests performed on the carnauba plastic wood composites revealed for the PP-WPC and PE-WPC the tension at the maximum strength of 14.24 ± 0.16 MPa and 19.38 ± 2.02 MPa, with deformations of 4% and 11.33% ± 1.21%, with Izod impact strengths of 52.43 ± 1.82 J/m and 121.35 ± 9.50 J/m respectively, in line with what is observed in the literature. The accelerated artificial weathering test revealed a color vector modulus variation of ΔE* = 0.39 and 13.58, respectively, showing that the change in PP-WPC was not noticeable to the naked eye. The results also showed that plastic carnauba wood does not have any kind of barrier against attacks promoted by fungi, requiring the use of chemical agents to prevent its proliferation.