Graphene Oxide Surface Treatment on Piassava Fiber Attalea funifera to Improve Adhesion in Epoxy Matrix

ABSTRACT

The growing environmental awareness in the last few decades has driven the research and development of composites reinforced with natural fibers as an alternative to replace synthetic fiber composites. However, their hydrophilic character and surface heterogeneity may be considered a challenge to allow reliable and wide application of these materials. One way to overcome this drawback is the modification of the surface of the fiber by chemical and/or physical treatments. Among these treatments, the graphene oxide (GO) has stood out due to its amphiphilic character. In the present work, the influence of GO-treatment in piassava fiber was investigated. The interfacial adhesion between the piassava fiber, both untreated and with GO, and the epoxy resin was evaluated by pullout tests. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy were also performed to verify the effectiveness of the GO-treatment on the piassava fiber. The fiber’s surface morphology was further investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The GO-treatment of the piassava fiber enhanced the interfacial shear strength by ∼171% more than untreated fibers. This could allow new applications of these eco-friendly composites as high-performance materials.

摘要

在过去的几十年中, 环境意识的不断增强推动了天然纤维增强复合材料的研究和开发, 作为替代合成纤维复合材料的替代品. 然而, 它们的亲水性和表面不均匀性可能被认为是一个挑战, 以允许这些材料的可靠和广泛应用. 克服这一缺点的一种方法是通过化学和/或物理处理对纤维表面进行改性. 在这些处理方法中, 氧化石墨烯 (GO) 因其两亲性而引人注目. 在目前的工作中, 研究了GO处理对piassava纤维的影响。通过拉拔试验评估未处理和使用GO的piassava纤维与环氧树脂之间的界面粘合. 傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR) 和拉曼光谱也用于验证GO处理对piassava纤维的有效性. 通过扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 进一步研究了纤维的表面形貌. 对piassava纤维进行GO处理后, 界面剪切强度提高∼比未经处理的纤维多171%. 这将允许这些环保复合材料作为高性能材料的新应用.

KEYWORDS:

• Graphene oxide
• natural fibers
• piassava
• composites
• interfacial shear strength

关键词:

• 氧化石墨烯
• 天然纤维
• 复合材料
• 界面剪切强度

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the support for this investigation by the Brazilian agencies: CNPq, CAPES, and FAPERJ. This study was funded in part by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. Fundação de Amparo À Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) process E-26/202.286/2018; and the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) grant number 423462/2018-0.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) [Finance Code 001]; National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) [423462/2018-0]; Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro [E-26/202.286/2018].