Mechanical Performance of PU based bio-composites

MIRTA I. ARANGUREN; NORMA E. MARCOVICH; MIRNA A. MOSIEWICKI

Biocomposites: Design and Mechanical Performance.

Woodhead Publishing Limited

Año: 2015; p. 463 - 483

Polyurethanes (PU) are versatile polymers that have found ample variety of applications in quite different fields, including foams (flexible cushions as well as rigid heat insulators), construction, adhesives, gaskets and coatings, as well as medical devices. The facility of handling the formulation is the main reason for complying with such a wide range of properties, in particular mechanical properties. As the natural fiber composites appear in the world scene, polyurethanes were also incorporated to the list of matrices that could be used and benefit from the addition of lignocellulosics. The chemical nature of these polymers is certainly an asset, since little (many times none) fiber modification is needed to obtain good interfacial adhesion. Enough to say that the highly hydroxylated vegetable material is capable of interacting with the polar groups of the PU or reacting with the isocyanate groups if the polymerization is carried out in situ. This chapter is presenting an overview on the mechanical properties of natural fiber (and particle) composites having synthetic and bio-based polyurethane matrices.