Obtenção de materiais compósitos a partir de resíduo agroenergético: caso do aproveitamento da palha da cana-de-açúcar

Abstract

One of the alternatives for increasing the participation of renewable sources in the Brazilian energy matrix is the use of ethanol. This can be obtained from various raw materials, which in Brazil is the production from sugarcane that stands out. In the ethanol production process there are several waste which has been used as co-products. According to the literature about GMPs, practically no studies exist on sugarcane straw as an element of feasibility to production chain. One of the alternatives for its use would be the manufacture of new composite materials. These materials are an interesting alternative to the replacement of synthetic materials widely used by current society, because, besides having a lower cost of production, it can also reduce pollution by synthetic materials. Given the above, this paper proposes the production of composite materials made from a agroenergy residue in the production of ethanol from sugarcane straw, along with resin. Materials were produced with different proportions of straw/resin (50/50, 30/70 and 10/90). For the characterization of the new material obtained were performed tests of density, humidity, water absorption and swelling, compression and bending. The results showed that the materials obtained have satisfactory physical properties. Regarding mechanical properties, the breakdown voltage reached values between 0.21 and 1.3 MPa, the modulus of elasticity ranged between 2,500 and 760.77 MPa and the modulus of rupture between 1.19 to 4.17 MPa.