Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

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Studies on lignocellulosic bers of Brazil. Part II: Morphology

and properties of Brazilian coconut bers
Fabio Tomczak a, Thais Helena Demetrio Sydenstricker b,
Kestur Gundappa Satyanarayana c,*
a
Klabin Papeis Monte Alegre, Fazenda Monte Alegre Harmonia, Telemaco Borba, Parana, Brazil
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Parana (UFPR), Centro Politecnico, Jardim das Americas, P.B. No. 19011,
CEP: 81531-980, Curitiba, PR, Brazil
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Parana (UFPR), Centro Politecnico, Jardim das Americas, P.B. No. 19081, CEP: 81531-990,
Curitiba, PR, Brazil
b

Received 1 June 2006; received in revised form 12 February 2007; accepted 13 February 2007

Abstract
Stressstrain curves for dierent diameters, tensile properties and thermal behaviour of Brazilian coir bers are presented. The tensile
strength (TS) and Youngs modulus (YM) of these coir bers were found to decrease, while the percentage (%) strain at break remained
constant as ber diameter increased. With bers (mean diameter of 0.225 mm), a decrease in TS and % strain at break but an increase in
YM with increasing test length of the ber, and a considerable increase in TS, constant YM and % strain at break with increasing strain
rate were observed. The results are discussed in terms of X-ray diraction and microscopic observations. Thermal behaviour of the bers
revealed degradation of dierent constituents in an N2 or O2 atmosphere. Thermo-mechanical analysis of the bers revealed increased
modulus and decreased tan d values.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: A. Coconut ber; B. Tensile properties; B. Thermal analysis; D. Microstructure

1. Introduction
The use of lignocellulosic bers as reinforcements for
polymeric materials has been growing during the last decade or so to replace synthetic bers, especially glass bers
in composites, for dierent industrial sectors, such as packaging, automobiles [1,2] and even in the building sector [3].
This is mainly due to their unique characteristics, such as
abundance, biodegradability, low density, non-toxic nature, less abrasiveness to plastic processing equipment and
useful mechanical properties, not to mention their low cost
(1740% of glass ber) [4]. These have made them alternates to man-made bers for making composites [26]. In

Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 41 3361 3470; fax: +55 41 3361 3186.
E-mail address: kgs_satya@yahoo.co.in (K.G. Satyanarayana).

1359-835X/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.02.004

addition, there is a growing awareness of ecological concerns, particularly in the automotive uses of these bers,
due to stringent enforcement of laws, particularly in European countries [6]. These factors also encourage nding
new uses for these bers, which otherwise go to waste.
Also, these bers may provide important opportunities to
improve peoples standard of living by helping generate
additional employment, particularly in the rural sector.
Accordingly, every country that has these natural sources
has started to conduct R&D eorts with lignocellulosic
bers, seeking to take advantage of their potential social
advantages.
Brazil has a high potential for the production of vegetable bers and produces a number of lignocellulosic bers.
For example, it produces annually about 1.5 billion coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.) [7], mainly in the northeast region,
in a cultivated area of 273,810 ha. The annual yield of

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

coconut per tree in Brazil is about 140 coconuts compared

to 120 coconuts in several countries of Asia and Africa
[6,8]. Coconut bers (coir) can be extracted from either
mature or immature fruits (for example, they are sold in
Brazil though obtained from green fruits used for their
water, which is one of the popular refreshments and has
therapeutic properties). They are lignocellulosic bers
obtained from the mesocarp of the coconut fruit, which
constitutes about 25% of the nuts. It is one of the least
expensive among various natural bers available in the
world. It is not brittle like glass bers, is amenable to chemical modication and is non-toxic. But the waste from its
disposal causes environmental problems. This is being
looked into by many producing countries. For instance,
in Forteleza, Ceara, in northeastern Brazil, the Brazilian
Agricultural Research Bureau (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria EMBRAPA) has initiated a social
project [9] that supports collection of coconut husks from
beaches where the coconut water is sold. Then this waste
is sent to a pilot plant of EMBRAPA instead of to the
municipal dump. The immature ber is extracted and sold
to industries or the husks are used in handcrafts. In this
country, coir bers are also substituting fern trees (Samambaiacu tree, which is in danger of extinction) used for
the production of pots for keeping young plants.
Availability and processing of these bers, along with
description of their current applications and attempts to
increase their use (which help a sizable population in certain parts of Brazil), are reported in the literature [5,7]. It
appears that systematic studies of coir bers have been carried out in only a few countries, such as India. These studies reveal the variation of dierent strength properties as a
function of their area of production, diameter and length,
as well as of the strain rate, moisture absorption and ame
retardant properties [1021]. Also, results of dierent surface treatments on these coir bers and their use as reinforcements in various polymeric matrices have been
reported [2239]. However, there are only a limited number
of studies on the properties of Brazilian coir bers, and
attempts to use them in the automotive industry and some
other applications [4051]. Furthermore, some of these
studies also report [43,4749,51] dierent chemical composition for Brazilian coir ber, showing a good deal of variation in cellulose content (3953%) and very similar lignin
content (3841%) in comparison with other Brazilian lignocellulosic bers (bast or leaf). These values are dierent
from those reported for the bers of other parts of the
world. These bers exhibit dierent Raman vibrational
spectra, with cellulose bands that are weak compared to
those of bast (jute) and leaf (sisal/curaua) bers [47]. Similarly, the same authors have reported this ber to exhibit a
strong but broad photo-acoustic IR spectrum with two
strong bands of CH stretching and C@O stretching,
unlike the bast and leaf bers studied.
Many attempts have been made to prepare both polymer and cement based composites using coir bers (both
with and without surface treatment of the bers), as well

1711

as on their products, which have been successfully tested

for their performance. For example, improved strength
properties of composites containing surface treated coir
bers has been observed by many [2227,32,35], while composite products such as doors, furniture and acoustic panels made of coir-phenolformaldehyde resin have been in use
for over a decade in the laboratory where they were made
for the rst time [38,39]. Besides this, an earlier report indicated [39] the performance of coir-glasspolyester composite roong for more than two decades in India. And, a
recent study has reported the feasibility of producing even
biodegradable corrugated roong tiles of coir bers with
tannin (plant based) phenolic resin in Brazil [51]. These
tiles were given a coating of castor oil based iso-cyanate
free polyurethane to improve their water-resistance before
subjecting them to permeability and accelerated weathering
tests, following the Brazilian NBR 5642 standard and
ASTM G154 standard, respectively. On the other hand,
cement composites incorporated with coir ber exhibit
higher toughness along with inhibition of unstable crack
growth and slow and stable fracture from rapid brittle fracture of the matrix [44]. The composites also exhibited postcracking peaks with improved energy-absorption capacity
prior to failure. Improved durability of the coir ber containing polymer concrete is also reported [52], which is
attributed to high lignin content of the coir ber. All these
indicate the possible use of coir bers as eective reinforcing material in both polymer and cement matrices, as well
as the applications of such composites.
Considering all the above, the objective of this paper,
which is part of systematic studies on characterization
and use of Brazilian bers to be published by the authors,
is to evaluate the strength properties of Brazilian coir bers
as a function of their size and dierent strain rates as well
as their thermal behaviour. Also, X-ray diraction and
optical and scanning electron microscopic studies of the
bers have been conducted to understand the observed
properties of these bers. This is important since it is well
known that characteristics of lignocellulosic bers including wood bers such as coir vary considerably with the
place where they are produced and age of their source tree
[29,5255]. Also, this type of characterization will help in
assessing appropriate dimensions of the bers for their
use in composites for dierent applications.
2. Experimental
Coir bers from the northeast region of Brazil were
received from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Bureau
(EMBRAPA) in Fortaleza, in the state of Ceara. First
the bers were sorted according to diameters and length.
The bers were then subjected to tension in an Instron testing machine, model 4467, with a cell load of 100 N using
pneumatic grips. Fibers of dierent diameters (0.04
0.40 mm) were tested for tensile properties at constant
length (20 mm) and strain rate (5 mm/min). In addition,
bers of mean diameter 0.225 mm and of dierent test

1712

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

(gauge) lengths (5, 10, 20 and 25 mm) were tested at strain

rate of 5 mm/min, while the same diameter bers and of
test length of 20 mm were subjected to dierent strain rates
(5, 10, 20 and 50 mm/min). At least ve samples for each of
the parameters mentioned (diameter, length of the ber
and strain rate) were tested to get meaningful results. The
diameter was measured at ve places along the chosen
length of each ber, and the average of these was considered for the strength calculations. Thus, a total of 50 bers
were tested for each experiment at dierent diameters,
lengths and strain rate to get meaningful values of all
measurements.
The morphological characterization of the as-received
and fractured bers was conducted through an optical
microscope (Nikon Eclipse: Model ME600) and scanning
electron microscope (SEM) (Philips: Model XL-30),
respectively, after suitable preparation of samples. Thermal
characterization of bers was studied (i) by thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and (ii) by dynamical mechanical
thermal analysis (DMA). While the former was carried
out in a Nietzsche TG 209 instrument, using 4.666 mg of
the ber in a temperature range of 20 C and 800 C, in a
nitrogen or oxygen atmosphere (15 ml/min) and at a heating rate of 20 C/min, the latter was conducted using a Netzch DMA-242 instrument in load or tension modes, with
static and dynamic loads of 1.0 N and 0.8 N, respectively,
at a frequency of 1 Hz in a temperature range of 150 to
150 C. The curves were obtained with the same ber.
The heating cycle consisted of starting at ambient temperature, heating rst to 150 C and cooling until 150 C,
with a heating rate of 3 C/min, cooling again to
150 C, and then (without the application of any load),
heating again to 150 C. Through this process we could
observe the inuence of moisture on the mechanical characteristics of the ber in addition to the transition processes. This DMA study gives information on the
stability of the bers.
The degree of crystallinity of the bers was calculated
from X-ray diractograms recorded on a Philips XPert
X-ray diractometer with Ni-ltered CuKa radiation of

at 40 kV, 20 mA and with scanning

wave length 1.5418 A
at 2 /min. Samples were analyzed in the powder form
and using a computer program. The crystallinity percentage (IC) of the samples was evaluated following an area
method [56]:
IC%

ACrystalline
 100
ATotal

3. Results
3.1. Eect of ber diameter
Stressstrain curves for bers of dierent diameters were
obtained. Fig. 1a shows a typical stressstrain curve of a
Brazilian coir ber of 0.131 mm diameter and gauge length
of 20 mm, tested at a strain rate of 5 mm/min. For comparison, that for an Indian coir ber of diameter 0.250 mm
and 50 mm test length, tested at 20 mm/min, is shown in
Fig. 1b. Using Fig. 1a, elastic modulus values were
obtained from the initial linear part of the curve, while
the nal strength was evaluated from the high plastic
region. The strength properties thus evaluated are presented as a function of diameter in Fig. 2. It can be seen
that both tensile strength and elastic modulus of bers
decrease with increasing diameter within the range studied
(0.040.40 mm), as observed in the case of pineapple bers
[57] and ax bers [58,59], but contrary to the values
observed for Indian coir bers [12]. On the other hand,
the strain at failure, although showing some variation,
may be considered as roughly constant at around 30%,
which is again opposite to that observed in the case of
Indian coir bers.
3.2. Eect of test length
Table 1 presents the results of the eect of test length
(varying from 5 to 25 mm) of coir bers of mean diameter
0.225 mm on their strength properties tested at a strain rate
of 5 mm/min. It can be seen that the tensile strength and

180
160
140
-2

Stress (MN.m )

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45

Strain

Fig. 1. Typical stressstrain curve for a coir ber: (a) present study and (b) Indian ber [12].

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

-1

300

-1

Coir fiber. 5mm.min . l0=20mm)

Coir fiber. 5mm.min . l0=20mm)

4500
4000

250

Modulus (MPa)

Tensile Strengh (MPa)

1713

200

150

3500
3000
2500
2000

100

1500
50
1000
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

Diameter (mm)

Diameter (mm)

Tensile strength

Modulus

0.35

0.40

0.45

35

Strain at break (%)

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0.05-0.1 0.1-0.15 0.15-0.20 0.20-0.25 0.25-0.30 0.30-0.35 0.35-0.40 0.40-0.45

Diameter (mm)

Strain at break
Fig. 2. Inuence of diameter on mechanical properties of coir bers (gauge length: 20 mm; strain rate: 5 mm/min).

Table 1
Tensile properties of coir bers of dierent guage length
Gauge length, L0
(mm)

Mean tensile strength

(MPa)

SD tensile strength
(MPa)

Mean modulus
(GPa)

SD modulus
(GPa)

Mean strain at
break (%)

SD strain at break
(%)

5
10
20
25

142.6
135.4
128.7
118.3

53.26
44.8
47.4
35.56

1.269
1.966
2.302
2.734

0.386
0.393
0.707
0.912

59.87
34.04
29.91
25.01

23.80
15.86
12.09
12.50

SDstandard deviation.

strain at break both decrease with increasing test length,

while the Youngs modulus increases with the test length.
These results are similar to those observed in the case of
various bers of Indian origin [12,6062], and for Brazilian
piassava bers as well [63].
A regression analysis between the tensile strength and
test length shows a linear relationship given by
r 147:84  1106  l

The correlation coecient was 0.97. The weak-link density

calculated from the slope of this straight line is

1106 M N m3, which is lower than the earlier reported value of about 2320.4 M N m3 for Indian coir bers [61].
3.3. Eect of strain rate
Table 2 presents the results of the eect of strain rate (5,
10, 20 and 50 mm/min) on coir bers of gauge length of
20 mm and diameter 0.225 mm. It can be seen that the tensile strength increases from 128.7 MPa to 155.4 MPa, while
no signicant changes in the strain at failure and in
Youngs modulus are observed when the strain rate

1714

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

Table 2
Tensile properties of coir bers at dierent strain rate
Strain rate
(mm/min)

Mean tensile strength

(MPa)

SD tensile strength
(MPa)

Mean modulus
(GPa)

SD modulus
(GPa)

Mean strain at
break (%)

SD strain at break
(%)

5
10
20
50

128.7
134.7
142.4
155.4

47.4
63.9
70.2
70.2

2.301
2.214
2.392
2.402

0.706
0.843
0.872
0.868

29.9
34.9
28.6
31.0

12.1
13.8
13.6
13.6

SDstandard deviation.

increased from 5 mm/min to 50 mm/min. These observations are similar to those observed with sisal bers of
Indian origin [61], but contrary to those of Indian coir
bers [12].
All the three above mentioned observations (Sections
3.13.3) are explained in the next section.
3.4. X-ray diraction studies
The X-ray diraction spectrum of the coir bers used in
this investigation is shown in Fig. 3, which is similar to
other natural bers, showing peak associated with the crystalline part at 2h = 22. The crystallinity index of coir bers
calculated using this spectrum is 57%, compared to 44%
reported earlier [46]. As methods for the rough estimation
of the microbrillar angle of lignocellulosic bers are available, the angle of the coir bers was calculated in the present study, following the equation given in [61,64]. It was
found to be 51, compared to other reported experimental
and estimated values of 3045 [12,64]. It should also noted
that support for the orientation of microbrils (cellulose)
was only available from X-ray studies [12] until direct evidence from microscopic studies was obtained in the eighties
and thereafter [12,50].

Fig. 3. X-ray spectrum of Brazilian coir bers.

3.5. Morphological studies

Fig. 4 shows a photomicrograph of the transverse section of a coir ber. It can be seen that the ber consists
of dierent type of regularly arranged cells, with a large
lacuna at the center of the ber. The cells are almost circular, similar to those reported for coir bers of other countries [12,33], but unlike those reported earlier for Brazilian
bers [50]. Fig. 5 presents scanning electron micrographs
showing longitudinal section (Fig. 5a) and the tensile fracture surfaces (Fig. 5b and c) of the ber. Some surface
defects are visible (Fig. 5a), while the fracture surfaces
(Fig. 5b and c) reveal ductile fracture. Such fracture surfaces are similar to those observed earlier [12]. Also, similar
surfaces were observed with bers tested at dierent strain
rates, suggesting that the strain rate does not have any
eect on the bers fracture mode.
3.6. Thermal eects
The results of thermogravimetric analysis of coir bers
in nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres studied here are
shown in Fig. 6a and b and are similar to those reported
earlier [50]. These curves reveal the decomposition proles
of coir bers, which are characterized by mass loss between
room temperature and 150 C, followed by double oxidation peaks, representing the decomposition processes of
the ber constituents.
The dynamic thermo-mechanical analysis of coir bers
was conducted at a temperature range of 150 to 150 C,
both in the as-received condition (with moisture) and after

Fig. 4. Photomicrograph of transverse section of coir ber: (a) 10 and

(b) 50.

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

1715

Fig. 5. Scanning electron micrographs of coir ber at dierent strain rates: (a) fracture surface showing the defects and necking [1000, 5 mm/min];
(b) and (c): fractograph showing the end of ber with pull out of microbrils [500, 10 mm/min 1000, 50 mm/min].

100

5.4%

60

259.2C
40.1%
40

20

313.4C
0
200

400

600

Temperature (C)

20
0

7.9%
64C

-20

80

274C
-40

64.1%
60

-60
-80

40
-100
20

28%
348C

-120

Deriv. Weight (%/C)

Weight (%)

19.6%

Oxiygen Atmosphere
100

Deriv. Weight (%/C)

80 67.2C

2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10
-11
-12
-13
-14
-15
-16
-17
-18
-19
-20
800

Weight (%)

Nitrogen Atmosphere

-140

0
200

400

600

800

Temperature (C)

Fig. 6. Thermal analysis of coir ber in (a) nitrogen and (b) oxygen atmospheres.

drying, which eliminated a large amount of water. Fig. 7a

and b shows the results of these tests. From these curves,
the storage modulus and tan d values for the ber were
evaluated, which varied due to the presence of absorbed
water in the as-received bers.
4. Discussion
4.1. Tensile properties
The results of observed tensile testing in the present
study can be understood based on earlier reports on coir
bers of Indian origin. According to publications on coir
[11,12] and other lignocellulosic bers [5254], the internal
structure and properties (chemical composition and
mechanical properties) of lignocellulosic bers depend on
their (a) place of origin, (b) maturity, (c) species and (d)
extraction methods. In addition, the strength properties
of the bers also depend on test conditions. All these
clearly explain the dierences in properties reported here
for Brazilian coir bers and other lignocellulosic bers,
including the Indian coir bers with which they are compared in Sections 3.13.3. It is also interesting to note that
even the internal structure of the coir bers used in the
present study is dierent from those earlier reported

[29,4651] for these bers from Brazil and other countries.

Similarly, the dierences between the results of the present
study and the earlier ones on Brazilian bers, particularly
that of Silva et al. [50], can be interpreted based on the origin of the bers used in the two studies. While the coir
bers used in this work were extracted mechanically using
the green coconuts within three days of collection from the
beaches where they had been used for their water (Private
Communication with EMBRAPA), the ones used by other
researchers [50] were from similar husks, but extracted
after retting them in water for 4 months. Furthermore,
the testing conditions are dierent in the two cases. For
example, the length and diameters of the bers tested at a
strain rate of 5 mm/min in the present study are 20 mm
and 0.0400.40 mm lm, respectively, compared to a test
length of 50 mm and diameter of 0.2500.328 mm and
strain rate of 20 mm/min reported by Silva et al. [50].
To understand the above observations one can consider
that natural bers, such as coir bers, as natural composites, following the published literature [4,11,12,18,19,64
66]. In this, the crystalline cellulose (microbrils) considered
as reinforcements, are wound helically in an amorphous
matrix (lignin). The amount of cellulose and lignin and
the helical angle of various bers depend on their place of
origin, maturity and species, as mentioned earlier. Since

1716

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

Modulus (MPa)

Fiber as received
Modulus
Tan

3000

Tan
323 K

2900

0.045

286 K

0.040

2800
0.035
2700
0.030

183 K

2600

0.025
2500
100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Temperature (K)
Modulus (MPa)

Dry Fiber
Modulus
Tan

6000
5500

Tan
0.040

330 K

5000

0.035

306 K

4500

186 K

0.030

4000

0.025

3500

0.020

3000

0.015

2500

0.010
100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

Temperature (K)

Fig. 7. Dynamic mechanical analysis of coir ber in (a) natural state;

(b) dried state.

these bers are lignocelluslosic, when subjected to deformation under load they behave as viscoelastic materials as
described elsewhere [12,14,57,6062]. According to the viscoelastic model [64], the applied load is shared initially by
both spring (represented by the crystalline region in the
ber) and dashpot (represented by amorphous regions of
the ber) [61]. The deformation mechanism of such helical
springy structures is well described see Ref. [12], according
to which the microbrils along with the non-crystalline
regions may elongate through uncoiling, with simultaneous
bending and twisting, as described elsewhere [12,18,19,64
66]. So, the extent to which such a ber resists deformation
in the low strain region depends on its microbrillar angle
and is called the initial modulus of the ber. Hence, this
modulus value varies depending on the age and origin of
the ber.
Further, since the ber is viscoelastic in nature, the following Equation was used to calculate the eective modulus (E) according to Mclaughlin and Tait [64] given by
E Ec W c Enc 1  W c

where Ec and Enc are the modulus values of crystalline (cellulose) and non-crystalline (lignin) regions respectively. Wc

is the weight of cellulose. These authors deduced modulus

values of both crystalline and non-crystalline regions to be
45 and 3 GPa, respectively, by adding the standard error to
the predicted low modulus values obtained. They found
these values to be close to the theoretical values reported
earlier by others. Furthermore, they have also replaced
Vc and Vnc in the normal rule of mixture equation with
Wc and Wnc, because the density contributions of crystalline and other regions lie in a very low range (1.4
1.6 103 kg m3). From this they derived a parabolic relationship between the fracture strain and the microbrillar
angle. These values helped them to give a physical description of the failure mechanism of plant bers, including coir.
Through SEM studies, they showed the failure mechanism
in coir bers is by simultaneous uncoiling of microbrils in
the walls of the adjacent cells. We also observed this here
(Fig. 5).
Then, using the calculated value of E and the observed
values of modulus of the ber in the present study, value
of h for the coir ber was calculated using the equation
[62]:
j
k
2
E  cos2 h  k  1  2  cot2 h
Ef
4
2
E  cos2 h k  1  2  cot2 h
where k is the bulk modulus, which was calculated to be
35 GPa [58]. The mean value for h for the coir ber used
in the present study worked out as 51. To verify the validity of the above, the % strain at break (e) was calculated as
was done by McLaughlin and Tait [64] using the equation
derived earlier for coir [12]
e

h2
1:24
60

Then value of % strain at break was found to be 45.5,

which is in the range of the observed values in this study
suggesting the methodology followed to calculate h in the
present study is in agreement with earlier reported studies
on various bers [6670].
4.1.1. Stressstrain curve
Fig. 1a is similar to that of other parts of the coconut
[14] and that reported for Brazilian coir bers [50]. A comparison with Fig. 1b shows that both are similar in the elastic region, presenting a linear stressstrain relationship, the
slope of which represents the initial modulus of the ber.
The modulus values evaluated in this study for coir bers
is 1.23.6 GPa, compared to 3.715.83 for the Indian counterpart of diameter 0.1000.450 mm and tested with higher
test length of 50 mm and at higher strain rate than the ones
used in this study [12]. These dierences in the nature of
curves and modulus values can be explained as mentioned
earlier (dierent origins, extraction methods and maturity)
and also by the testing conditions used in the two studies.
Since the microbrillar angle (51) calculated here is
higher than that reported for coir bers elsewhere (30
45), lower strength values are to be expected. Accordingly,

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

the present values of the strength properties are slightly different from those reported (TS: 95118 MPa, YM: 2.8 GPa
and % strain at break: 2351.4) for Brazilian bers by others [43,50], suggesting that although retting may not have
any signicant eect as reported for Indian coir bers
[12], the testing conditions used certainly do.
In the present study the initial linear part of the stress
strain curve was used to calculate Youngs modulus. The
linear portion in the stressstrain curve is then followed
by another linear portion with disproportionately higher
strain, showing a tendency for curvature just the opposite
of that observed in the Indian coir bers. This curvature
also indicates the viscoelastic nature of the bers as
expected following the two-element model of Maxwell
and derived for sisal bers [61], and therefore the applied
stress is shared between the crystalline and non-crystalline
molecules of the ber. Hence, the spiral-like structure of
the ber undergoes deformation as mentioned above, with
initial uncoiling of microbrils followed by matrix yielding
and slipping of molecules with increased applied stress,
through decohesion of crystalline and non-crystalline molecules mainly through weak-links and other imperfections.
When these two mechanisms operate individually or
together, the initial modulus can be calculated as a function
of the microbrillar angle, which the spiral structure possesses. The nature of the stressstrain curve reects all
these. There is also evidence of necking, as observed in
SEM studies (Fig. 5b), similar to that observed in sisal
bers [61].
4.1.2. Eect of diameter
The decrease in tensile strength and initial modulus and
constant strain at break with increasing ber diameter can
be understood from the fact that as the diameter of the
lignocerllulosic bers changes, the other structural parameters, such as microbrillar angle, volume of strength rendering cells in the ber and density of weak-links or
aws, also behave the same manner as reported elsewhere
[12,53,54,57,60,61]. The values observed for coir are found
to be similar to the values observed in the case of Indian
pineapple bers [57]. The changes in these parameters in
turn aect the strength properties. As reported elsewhere,
both the tensile strength and Youngs modulus of lignocellulosic bers decrease with microbrillar angle [66]. This,
along with the higher crystallinity index indicating lower
lignin content in the present study compared to reported
values elsewhere, may also be the cause for the observed
tensile strength and modulus values in this study. However,
it should be noted that the results of Silva et al. [50] also
showed a decrease in TS from 91 MPa to 59 MPa for bers
of dierent diameters (average diameter ranged between
0.25 and 0.41 mm), while both the YM (1.92.3) and %
strain at break (2534) remained constant. These authors
considered all of them to be constant due to the geometric
features (shape of the cells of the ber they used, which
were found to be mostly oblong) and the range of standard
deviation. We feel this may not be the case, but that other

1717

factors, such as immaturity of the bers, higher microbrillar angle, along with the test conditions and chemical composition, are responsible for the observed dierences.
4.1.3. Eect of test length
The decrease in tensile strength and strain at break with
increasing test length of the ber can be understood as due
to the increasing number of defects/weak-links in the bers
with their increasing length. The observations and the
interpretations are similar to earlier published reports on
various lignocellulosic bers of Indian origin [12,57,60
62]. The defect density of the bers calculated from the
slope of the plot of nal tensile strength vs test length in
this investigation is 1106 M N m3. The fact that this value
is lower than that reported for Indian bers [61] suggests
the bers used in this study are better regarding defect content than those of the Indian bers. On the other hand, the
increase in Youngs modulus with increasing test length
can be interpreted as due to multicellular structure and
structural non-homogeneity of the bers, as observed and
explained in the case of Indian sisal bers [61]. Also, longer
the bers length, the higher will be its lignin content, and
hence the higher will be its resistance to applied stress
(higher stiness or modulus). This in turn results in lower
elongation.
4.1.4. Eect of the strain rate
The increase in tensile strength and unchanged initial
modulus and strain at break with increasing strain rate
observed in the present study can be explained in terms
of the viscoelastic model of cellulose bers [61]. In short,
the lignocellulosic bers such as coir, when subjected to
mechanical testing, behave as an elastic body at higher
speeds, with the crystalline region sharing most of the
applied stress/load. This results in increased tensile
strength and Youngs modulus. But at lower test speeds
the ber behaves like a viscous liquid and hence the applied
load is shared mostly by the amorphous region, resulting in
a low modulus. Also, since the crystallinity index of the
coir bers in the present study is close to 50%, there is no
trend towards viscoelastic performance in the ber at
higher testing speeds, and thus both the modulus and strain
at break may not change with increasing speed. However,
tensile strength being much more sensitive to test speed
compared to Youngs modulus, the increase in this property can be explained as reported for sisal [61].
4.2. Thermal eects
The thermogravimetric analysis (TG) of the bers in
nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres is shown in Fig. 6. The
TG measurement gives information about the composition
and thermal stability of coir bers. The gure also shows
that although the bers were tested in an oxidative atmosphere, degradation occurred in a much more complex
way than in an inert atmosphere. The % mass losses in
the two atmospheres are, respectively, 5.4 with onset at

1718

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

67.2 C, 19.6 at 259.2 C and 40.1 at 313.4 C for the N2

atmosphere (Fig. 6a), and 7.9 at 64 C, 64.1 at 274 C
and 28 at 348 C for O2 atmosphere (Fig. 6b). The loss
of material at low temperatures (between room temperature and 150 C) may be attributed to the presence of
absorbed or combined water. The above values are slightly
dierent than those observed in the earlier studies [50], in
that they have observed mass losses of 6.58% and 34% with
the three transition temperature ranges of 2893 C, 215
388 C and 388510 C, respectively. These small dierences can be attributed to the nature of coir bers and
the testing conditions used in the two investigations, as
explained earlier. In their case of TG measurements were
made in air at a ow rate of 150 ml/min with a heating rate
of 10 C/min.
The initial degradation of the bers in a nitrogen atmosphere occurs at about 200 C and that in an oxygen atmosphere at 197 C. In the pyrolysis process of bers, it is
possible to identify the degradation regions of the ber
components. At the rst exothermic peak of the ber,
hemicellulose degrades between 200 and 260 C and cellulose in the range of 240350 C (giving a branched structure), and during the second peak, lignin degrades
between 280 and 500 C (less branched) and consequently
producing more stable material. The crystalline content
of the ber can be calculated from the above. In the present
study this works out to roughly 67%, a slightly higher gure than the value of about 5358% reported elsewhere
[43,46], while calculations from such curves give comparable cellulose content values of 73.6% and 81%, respectively,
for curaua and pine bers [71].
Additionally, excluding the moisture from the sample
(although the sample is the same, with only a small dierence attributed to dierent uptake of water), the step
related to the oxidation of cellulose is similar, while the
decomposition of lignin is dierent. This shows that cellulose is burnt while the lignin is only pyrolysed in the
absence of extra oxygen.
Above 500 C, carbonization of ber occurs with higher
mass loss, showing a residual mass of approximately 16%
at the end of the process. This residual mass may be associated with the presence of silicon, also present in other
natural bers [70]. It is not possible to separate the dierent
degradation processes of the ber components (hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin) in the oxidative atmosphere,
because the reactions are very complex and overlap in the
range of 220350 C.
The dynamic mechanical analysis of the coir bers in the
as-received and dried conditions shown in Fig. 7a and b,
carried out at a temperature range of 150 to 150 C,
reveals that there is a shift in dynamic Tg (the temperature
at which damping factor (tan d) or loss modulus (E00 ) peak)
with increasing testing temperature. This is expected since
natural bers such as coir bers being viscoelastic materials, there will be segmental mobility of the (polymeric) molecules present, leading to the shift in Tg and associated
factors. We observed that after elimination of water (by

Table 3
Dynamic mechanical properties of coir ber in natural and dried state
Natural state

Dried state

tan d

Tg (C)

Modulus (GPa)

tan d

Tg (C)

Modulus (GPa)

0.0275
0.040
0.045

90
13
50

2.650
2.900
3.000

0.0275
0.0375
0.0325

87
57
33

4.500
5.750
5.250

drying), there was an increase in E00 and a reduction of tan d

and a small change in the dynamic Tg (the temperature at
which maximum of the tan d occurs or the maximum of
the E00 occurs) (Table 3).
These changes can be understood since water not only
acts as a plasticizer, but also aects the degree of crystallinity of the ber, thus causing reduction in its modulus. The
transition temperatures at 13 and 33 C in the as-received
and dried states, respectively, may be associated with the
continued presence of small amounts of water even after
the drying process due to the wetting again by ambient
moisture when the ber is kept in air. Perhaps further drying of the coir bers followed by immediate mixing with an
apolar matrix such as polyolens would be benecial to
their performance as a reinforcing agent in a polymer composite matrix. This is due to the better polymer matrix-lignocellulosic ber adhesion and the polar nature of
cellulosic bers. It is known that drying of cellulose bers
before composite preparation is essential, although, drying
at the same time not only degrades the ber, but may also
create voids. Both these eects reduce the bers strength
[29]. Nevertheless, drying at an appropriate temperature
(below 70 C) and preferably in a vacuum is benecial to
composite making because of the better adhesion, as
reported by many researchers. Furthermore, the gure
shows that the presence of water in the ber aects the
transitions temperatures at 90 and 50 C, shifting them
to 87 and 57 C after the incomplete drying process.
5. Conclusions
The systematic study of structure and tensile properties
and thermal analysis of Brazilian coir bers reveals the
following:
(i) The ber consists of various cells of dierent dimensions arranged in an orderly manner. The defect density of these bers was 1106 MP m3, which is lower
than that reported for these bers elsewhere.
(ii) The ber exhibited crystallinity at about 22, with a
crystallinity index of 57%, which is higher than
reported earlier.
(iii) With the increasing diameter of the ber from
0.040 mm to about 0.40 mm, tensile strength
decreased from about 275 MPa to 50 MPa and YM
from 3.6 GPa to 1.2 GPa, while % strain at break
remained almost constant at about 30.

F. Tomczak et al. / Composites: Part A 38 (2007) 17101721

(iv) With increasing test length of the ber from 5 to

25 mm, the tensile strength decreased from
142.6 MPa to 118.3 MPa and strain at break
decreased from 23.8% to12.5%, while Youngs modulus increased from 1.27 GPa to 2.7 GPa.
(v) With an increase in the strain rate from 5 to 50 mm/
min, tensile strength increased from 128.7 MPa to
155.4 MPa, while Youngs modulus and % strain at
break remaining almost constant at 2.32.4 GPa
and 1213.6, respectively.
(vi) Fractographic studies of the bers revealed fracture
modes in these bers similar to those of other lignocellulosic bers.
(vii) Thermal analysis of these bers revealed that the degradation processes for their constituents (cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin), each degrading at certain
temperature ranges in nitrogen or oxygen atmospheres, although it was not possible to separate
the dierent degradation processes of the ber components in the latter case because of the very complex reactions. Thermo-mechanical analysis of the
bers in the range of 150 C to +150 C revealed
increased loss modulus and reduced damping factor
values.
(viii) As mentioned in Section 1, the coir bers can be used
in composites with both polymer and cement matrices. Hence, this study has relevance for the use these
bers as reinforcement both in polymeric and cement
matrices, providing valuable information on the
length and diameter ranges of coir bers for use in
composites. We are conducting further studies on
their use for mono and hybrid composites with polypropylene as matrix.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Dr. Gabriel Pinto de Souza, who
helped in recording the thermal analysis curves, Dr. Marcos Antonio Coelho Berton for X-ray diraction, and
Ms. Karla Regina Rattmann Freire for the SEM work reported here. We thank Morsey Leida de Freitas Rosa of
EMBRAPA for the supply of coir bers as well as her sharing of information about the coir bers of Brazil and Mr.
Guy Emmet Fulkerson for reading the paper and editing
the language. We are also grateful to the authorities of
LACTEC for their constant help and support during this
work, particularly Mr. Fabio Tomczak. One of us
(K.G.S.) thanks CNPq for its nancial assistance during
this work.
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