Despite all these attractive features, this polyester has not been
extensively used mainly because of its high price. Recent works
have dealt with PBS reinforced with natural plant fibers [20e31]:
the aim being to increase the performance of the biopolymer while
reducing the weight of the final material with further economic advantages, as part of the polymer is replaced by less expensive
materials. In addition to the properties of PBS already mentioned,
the presence of polar groups (carbonyl groups) and nonpolar segments
in its structure (Fig. 1) makes it attractive for applications as
the matrix in composites reinforced with lignocellulosic fibers,
whose main components (lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose) also
have polar and apolar groups in their structures. These characteristics
favor the interactions at the fiber - matrix interface.
In a previous study, we explored the potential of different
lignocellulosic fibers (sugarcane bagasse, coconut, curaua and sisal)
to reinforce the PBS matrix [32]. The present paper will further
analyze the influence of length and amount of curaua fibers on the
final properties of PBS-based composites. Indeed, to the best of our
knowledge, no paper has been published so far on this combination
of matrix and fibers.