Characterization of natural cellulosic fibers from Yucca aloifolia L. leaf as potential reinforcement of polymer composites

• Published in: Cellulose (London) Vol. 28; no. 9; pp. 5477 - 5492
• Main Authors: do Nascimento, Hederson Majela, dos Santos, Andressa, Duarte, Vitor Anthony, Bittencourt, Paulo Rodrigo Stival, Radovanovic, Eduardo, Fávaro, Silvia Luciana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-06-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bioorganic Chemistry; Cellulose; Cellulose fibers; Ceramics; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Failure analysis; Fibers; Glass; Infrared analysis; Lignocellulose; Mechanical properties; Modulus of elasticity; Morphology; Natural Materials; Organic Chemistry; Original Research; Physical Chemistry; Polymer matrix composites; Polymer Sciences; Strain analysis; Sustainable Development; Tensile strength; Tensile tests; Thermal stability; Thermodynamic properties; Thermogravimetric analysis; Mechanical properties; Chemical properties; Thermal analysis; Crystallinity; Natural fibers
• ISSN: 0969-0239; 1572-882X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10570-021-03866-y

In this work lignocellulosic fibers were obtained from
Yucca aloifolia
L. leaves and their chemical, morphological, thermal and mechanical properties were studied. The fibers were pullout from the leaves and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical characterization, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), single fiber tensile tests and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cellulose crystallinity index found was 69.43%. The fibers presented a high cellulose content, ~ 52.5%, and they are thermally stable until 193.4 °C. The tensile test for single fibers showed average results for the tensile strength of 800 MPa, Young's modulus of 39 GPa, and 2% strain at failure. Morphological analysis indicated the presence of a large number of parenchymal cells and not cellulosic constituents in fiber surface. These results indicated that
Yucca aloifolia
L. fibers have potential to application in polymeric matrices as fibrous reinforcement material.
Graphic abstract