CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Natural fibres reinforced polymers have gained importance in technical applications (1). Natural fibres have a number of advantages as a reinforcing phase, including low weight, low cost, availability from renewable resources, low density, high specific properties, non-abrasive processing characteristics and lack of residues upon incineration. But in a previous work (2) we observed that those materials had a significant lower fire resistance than the glass fiber reinforced composites. The objective of the present work is to obtain natural fiber composites with better fire resistance by using matrices with better thermal performance. Among the natural fibers, we choose jute because their composites have shown better thermal and fire resistance than other natural fibers used in the previous work (2). In reference to the matrix, phenolic resins have been widely used as glass fiber reinforced composite matrices due to their flame resistance, in addition with their excellent dimensional stability and chemical resistance. On other hand, it was observed that the addition of inorganic nanoreinforcement to polymers enhanced their mechanical properties and thermal resistance (3). Vinylester resins are commonly used with natural reinforcements because of their good compatibility with the fibers, their low viscosity and good mechanical properties. Then, the aim of this work is to study the fire resistance and smoke evolution of jute reinforced composites using different thermoset and nanoreinforced matrices. The performance of a jute reinforced phenolic resin was characterized and compared with that of a composite with vinylester, which is the commonly used matrix. Additionally, clay was added to the phenolic matrix in order to enhance their properties.