Preparation and Characterization of Novel Poly(Lactic Acid) Composites Reinforced with “Latxa” Sheep Wool Fibers: The Effect of Peroxide Surface Treatments and Fiber Content
Aitor Arbelaiz,
Telmo Yurramendi,
Ander Larruscain,
Ane Arrizabalaga,
Arantxa Eceiza,
Cristina Peña-Rodriguez
Affiliations
Aitor Arbelaiz
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Telmo Yurramendi
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Ander Larruscain
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Ane Arrizabalaga
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Arantxa Eceiza
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Cristina Peña-Rodriguez
‘Materials + Technologies’ Group (GMT), Chemical & Environmental Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gipuzkoa, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
“Latxa” sheep wool is rough, and it is not used in the textile industry because the fiber diameter is high compared with other wool fibers. Nowadays, this wool is considered as disposal and, with the aim to give it value, new uses must be explored. In the current work, the “Latxa” sheep wool fiber was evaluated as poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymer reinforcement. With the objective to optimize fiber/matrix adhesion, fibers were surface modified with peroxide. Oxidation treatment with peroxide led to chemical modifications of the wool fibers that improved the fiber/PLA adhesion, but the strength values achieved for the composites were lower compared to the neat PLA ones. The mechanical properties obtained in the current work were compared with the literature data of the PLA composites reinforced with vegetable fibers. The wool fibers showed inferior mechanical properties compared to the vegetable fiber counterparts. However, the preliminary results indicated that the incorporation of wool fibers to PLA reduced the flammability of composites.