"A NEW PEACH PALM FIBER MAT FOR POLYURETHANE MATRIX COMPOSITES: BEHAVIOR TO UV-ACCELERATED WEATHERING "

Fibers from agricultural residues originating from harvesting heart-of-palm, a renewable resource, have been explored to produce composites with low cost and sustainability, from widely available raw materials. This work investigated the influence of fiber mat percentage and UV-accelerated aging on the properties of polyurethane (PU) matrix composites. The highlight is on the dissociation process of extracting the fibrils from peach palm leaves and producing a fiber mat. The hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignin contents were determined before and after the dissociation. The mats were incorporated into the matrix by the hand lay-up method corresponding to 6 or 10 wt%. The composites were subjected to accelerated weathering for 90 days and then were characterized by TGA, SEM and tensile testing. The main results indicated that the thermal stability of the composites remained similar to that of neat PU, and the UV-weathering effect on mechanical properties was evident after 90 days of exposure.