Search Results (3)

This study investigates the fibers of tucum (Bactris setosa Mart.), a palm species native to the Atlantic Forest. The fibers manually extracted from tucum leaves were characterized to determine important properties that help with the recognition of the material. The fibers were also subjected to pre-bleaching to evaluate their dyeing potential. The extraction and characterization of these fibers revealed excellent properties, making this material suitable not only for manufacturing high-quality textile products but also for various technical and engineering applications. The characterization techniques included SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), TGA (Thermogravimetric Analysis), and tensile strength tests. These analyses showed that tucum fibers possess desirable properties, such as high tensile strength, with values comparable to linen but with a much finer diameter. The fibers also demonstrated good affinity for dyes, comparable to cotton fibers. An SEM analysis revealed a rough surface, with superficial phytoliths contributing to their excellent mechanical strength. FTIR presented a spectrum compatible with cellulose, confirming its main composition and highly hydrophilic nature. The dyeing tests indicated that tucum fibers can be successfully dyed with industrial direct dyes, showing good color yield and uniformity. This study highlights the potential of tucum fibers as a renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable alternative for the transformation industry, promoting waste valorization. Full article

The addition of natural fibers used as reinforcement has great appeal in the construction materials industry since natural fibers are cheaper, biodegradable, and easily available. In this work, we analyzed the feasibility of using the fibers of piassava, tucum palm, razor grass, and jute from the Amazon rainforest as reinforcement in mortars, exploiting the mechanical properties of compressive and flexural strength of samples with 1.5%, 3.0%, and 4.5% mass addition of the composite binder (50% Portland cement + 40% metakaolin + 10% fly ash). The mortars were reinforced with untreated (natural) and treated (hot water treatment, hornification, 8% NaOH solution, and hybridization) fibers, submitted to two types of curing (submerged in water, and inflated with CO₂ in a pressurized autoclave) for 28 days. Mortars without fibers were used as a reference. For the durability study, the samples were submitted to 20 drying/wetting cycles. The fibers improved the flexural strength of the mortars and prevented the abrupt rupture of the samples, in contrast to the fragile behavior of the reference samples. The autoclave cure increased the compressive strength of the piassava and tucum palm samples with 4.5% of fibers. Full article

The replacement of synthetic fibers by natural fibers has, in recent decades, been the subject of intense research, particularly as reinforcement of composites. In this work, the lesser known tucum fiber, extracted from the leaves of the Amazon Astrocaryum vulgare palm tree, is investigated as a possible novel reinforcement of epoxy composites. The tucum fiber was characterized by pullout test for interfacial adhesion with epoxy matrix. The fiber presented a critical length of 6.30 mm, with interfacial shear strength of 2.73 MPa. Composites prepared with different volume fractions of 20 and 40% tucum fiber were characterized by tensile and Izod impact tests, as well as by ballistic impact energy absorption using .22 ammunition. A cost analysis compared the tucum fiber epoxy composites with other natural and synthetic fiber reinforced epoxy composites. The results showed that 40 vol% tucum fiber epoxy composites increased the tensile strength by 104% and the absorbed Izod impact energy by 157% in comparison to the plain epoxy, while the ballistic performance of the 20 vol% tucum fiber composites increased 150%. These results confirmed for the first time a reinforcement effect of the tucum fiber to polymer composites. Moreover, these composites exhibit superior cost effectiveness, taking into account a comparison made with others epoxy polymer composites. Full article