Processing of a Green Fiber-Reinforced Composite of High-Performance Curaua Fiber in Polyester

Lignocellulosic fibers extracted from the curaua plant are among the strongest natural fibers used as polymer composite reinforcements for engineering applications. However, to date, such composites have been limited in terms of their mechanical strength and impact energy. The objective of the present work is to investigate the possibility of improving the tensile strength as well as impact energy of curaua fiber-reinforced polyester composites by varying the process parameters, i.e., the amount of fibers with thinner diameter and the pressure applied during composite preparation. Using 60 vol.% of thinner, continuous, and aligned curaua fibers, it was possible to obtain tensile strength above 200 MPa. Moreover, by applying pressure of 30 MPa during curing, composites with tensile strength above 270 MPa were obtained. Regarding the Izod impact resistance, toughness of over 340 J/m was obtained for notched specimens machined perpendicular to the fiber alignment direction.