Characterization of Polyester Resin Nanocomposite with Curauá Fibers and Graphene Oxide

Natural fibers today play an important role as reinforcement in composite materials. The objective of this work was to obtain the adequate parameters for the manufacture of hybrid composites with curauá fibers and graphene oxide nanometric particles in the Polyester matrix, looking for the optimal variant of greater resistance to traction and flexion. The curauá fibers were treated with different NaOH solutions and different immersion times, different fiber contents and different graphene oxide contents were used. In the work Taguchi method was used to determine the quantity of necessary experiments and to evaluate the results. Micrographs were made using the Electronic Scanning Microscope and X-ray diffraction to determine the effectiveness of the treatments performed. Mechanical tests of traction and flexion were carried out and the results showed an increase of the resistance to average traction of 156% in relation to pure Polyester and a 186% of the resistance to flexion.