Development and effect of alkali treatment on tensile properties of curaua fiber green composites

This paper describes development and improvement of mechanical properties of a so-called green composite that was fabricated by reinforcing a cornstarch-based biodegradable resin with high-strength natural fibers extracted from a plant named curaua. Two fabrication methods are proposed, in which stretched slivers of curaua fibers are prepared as reinforcement to increase the composite strength. Moreover, highly concentrated alkali treatment was applied to curaua fibers to improve mechanical properties of green composites. Tensile test results showed that alkali-treated fiber composites increased in fracture strain twice to three times more than untreated fiber com-posites, without a considerable decrease in strength. This result proves that appropriate alkali treatment is a key technology for improving mechanical properties of cellulose-based fiber composites. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.