Abstract
At present, there is a change in attitude towards environmental care. This variation is evident both in environmental and sustainability policies developed by governments of some countries and in the minds of consumers. All this promotes research into new environmentally friendly materials. As a result, biodegradable polymeric materials have gained in recent years great importance. In fact, there are commercially biodegradable thermoplastic derived from polyalqueonate, such as polylactic acid (PLA), policrapolactona, polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), polidroxibutirate-valerate (PHBV), ..
On the other hand, is well known that polymeric matrix composites have been well accepted by their good performance in different technological fields. This effect has led to the emergence of a new generation of composite materials called "green composites" or "eco composites" which are characterized by their low environmental aggression and biodegradability properties.
In the present work, a "green composite" has been characterized for technological applications in several industries such as automotive, transportation, interiorism, ... Specifically, natural fibers such as fiber source of agave (Agave Americana, monocotyledonous plant belonging to the family of amarillidaceas) has been used in thermoplastic polymer matrices of biodegradable nature, polyhydroxybutyrate PHB.
The main aim of this study is to compare the mechanical properties of natural fiber reinforced biopolymers in order to obtain "green composites" which can replace traditional composites. In order to reach this objective, mechanical, physical, thermal and morphological properties of such biocomposites have been analyzed.
The obtained results show that the mechanical response of the "green composite" obtained is significantly improved with the increase of natural fiber. Furthermore, the thermal stability also is increased considerably with the addition of fibers. However, the surface morphology shows a lack of interaction between the matrix and the fiber. It is expected an improvement of the compound performance with the treatment of the pita fibers.
Keywords: Green composites, polihidroxibutirate, fibra de pita, biocomposite