Estudo da flamabilidade e resistência à chama de compósito de poliéster insaturado e fibra da folha do abacaxizeiro (PALF)

In the present research work, composites were prepared using pine apple leaf fibres (PALF) as reinforcement with unsaturated polyester resin as matrix, incorporating with fire retardant at different compositions. The PALF was obtained from the decortication of pine apple leaves obtained from Ramada 4 from Ielmo Marinho in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The unsaturated polyester resin and the catalyzer were bought from the local establishment. The fire retardant, aluminium tri-hydroxide - Al(OH)3 was donated by Alcoa Alumínio S.A and was used in the proportions of 20%, 40% and 60% w/w. Initially the fibres were treated with 2% NaOH for 1 hour, to remove any impurities present on the fibre surface, such as wax, fat, pectin and pectate, in order to have a better adsorption of the fibres with the matrix as well as the flame retardant. The fibre mat was prepared in a mat preparator by immersion, developed in the Textile Engineering Laboratory, at the UFRN. The composites (300x300x3 mm) were prepared by compression molding and the samples (150x25x3 mm) for analysis of the properties were cut randomly using a laser cutter. Some of the cut samples were used to measure the smoke emission and fire resistance using UL94 standard. Mechanical tension-extension and flexural properties were carried in CTGás RN and the Laboratório de Metais e Ensaios Mecânicos Engenharia de Materiais UFRN , as well as SEM studies were carried out at Núcleo de Estudos em Petróleo e Gás Natural - UFRN . From the observed results, it was noted that, there was no marked influence of the fire retardant on the mechanical properties. Also in the water absorption test, the quantity of water absorbed was less in the sample with higher concentration of fire retardant. It was also observed that the increase in the proportion of the fire retardant increased the time of burning, may be due to the compactness of the composite due to the presence of fire retardant as a filling material even though it was meant to reduce the rate of inflammability of the composite

Tratamento de argila montmorilonítica para a produção de nanocompósitos poliméricos com retardo de propagação de chama

Compared to conventional composites, polymer matrix nanocomposites typically exhibit enhanced properties at a significantly lower filler volume fraction. Studies published in the literature indicate t hat the addition of nanosilicate s can increase the resistance to flame propagation in polymers. In this work, a treatment of montmorillonite (MMT) nano clay and the effect of its ad dition o n flame propagation characteristics of vinyl ester were studied. The resea rch was conducted in two stages. The first stage focused on the purification and activation of the MMT clay collected from a natural deposit to improve compatibility with the polymer matrix . Clay modification with sodium acetate was also studied to improve particle dispersion in the polymer. The second step was focused on the effect of the addition of the treated clay on nanocomposites ’ properties. Nanocomposites with clay con tents of 1, 2, 4 wt. % were processed. T he techniques for the characterization of the clay included X - ray fluorescence (XRF), X - r ay d iffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric a nalysis (TGA), d ifferential scanning c alorimetry (DSC) , s urface area (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). For t he characterization of the nanocomposites , the techniques used were thermogravimetric a nalysis (TGA) , differential scanning c alorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) , scanning electron mi croscopy (SEM), transmission electron m icroscopy (TEM), and the determination of tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and resistance to flame propagation. According to the results, the purification and activation treatment with freeze - drying used in thi s work for the montmorillonite clay was efficient to promote compatibility and dispersion in the polymer matrix as evidenced by the characterization of the nanocomposite s . It was also observed that the clay modifica tion using sodium acetate did not produce any significant effect to improve compatibilization of the clay with the polymer. The addition of the treated MMT resulted in a reduction of up to 53% in the polymer flame propagation speed and did not affect the mechanical tensile strength and modulus o f elas ticity of the polymer, indicating compatibility between the clay and polymer. The effectiveness in reducing flame propagation speed peaked for nanocomposites with 2 wt. % clay, indicating that this is the optimum clay concentration for this property. T he clay treatment used in this work enables the production of vinylester matrix nanocomposites with flame - retardancy properties .

Influência do retardante de chamas nas propriedades mecânicas e flamabilidade em compósitos poliméricos de epóxi/fibra de curauá

Currently, there is a great search for materials derived from renewable sources. The vegetable fibers as reinforcement for polymer matrixes, has been used as an alternative to replace synthetic fibres, being biodegradable and of low cost. The present work aims to develop a composite material with epoxy resin reinforced with curauá fibre with the addition of alumina trihydrate (aluminum hydroxide, Al(OH)3) as a flame retardant, which was used in proportions of 10 %, 20% and 30% of the total volume of the composite. The curauá fibers have gone through a cleaning process with an alkaline bath of sodium hydroxide (NaOH ), parallelized by hand and cut carding according to the default length . They were molded composites with fibers 30cm. Composites were molded in a Lossy Mold with unidirectional fibres in the proportion of 20% of the total volume of the composite. The composites were prepared in the Chemical Processing Laboratory of the Textile Engineering Department at UFRN. To measure the performance of the material, tests for the resistance to traction and flexion were carried out. with samples that were later analyzed in the Electronic Microscopy Apparatus (SEM ). The composites showed good mechanical properties by the addition of flame retardant and in some cases, leaving the composite more vulnerable to breakage. These mechanical results were analyzed by chi-square statistical test at the 5% significance level to check for possible differences between the composite groups. Flammability testing was conducted based on the standard Underwriters Laboratory 94 and the material showed a satisfactory result taking their average burn rate (mm / min) decreasing with increasing addition of the flame retardant composite.