Effect of removing sucrose and moisture in bagasse fibers on improvement of limit of processing temperature in bagasse-polypropylene composites

• Published in: Bioresources Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 5481 - 5488
• Main Authors: Sefat, Khan Md, Shibata, Shinichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29.05.2020
• ISSN: 1930-2126; 1930-2126
• DOI: 10.15376/biores.15.3-.5481-5488

This study focused on the increase of processing temperature of sugarcane bagasse fiber and polypropylene composites by removing sucrose and moisture in bagasse fibers. The relationship between the number of washing times and remaining sucrose in bagasse fiber were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The analysis showed that original bagasse fibers, which had been obtained from a sugar cane mill, contained 4.0 wt% sucrose. To clarify the effect of the remaining sucrose and moisture on the limit of processing temperature in bagasse composites, the sucrose removed bagasse (40 wt%) or the original bagasse (40 wt%) was mixed with polypropylene (60 wt%), respectively. Then, the composite specimens were prepared with hot-press forming at various temperature. The observations of the composites appearances and their flexural tests were carried out. The results showed that the limit of processing temperature in the removing sucrose and moisture of bagasse composites was dramatically improved. The flexural properties in the sucrose and moisture removed bagasse composites did not decrease until 260 °C, while that in the original bagasse composites decreased at 240 °C.