Alfa fibres: Mechanical, morphological and interfacial characterization

Alfa fibres are cellulose-based fibres extracted from the esparto grass. Their application in polymer composites requires the understanding of their structure and mechanical properties. This paper describes the morphology of the fibres, as observed by electron and optical microscopy. The tensile properties were obtained from single filament tensile tests, resulting in values of approximately 20 GPa and 250 MPa for tensile modulus and yield strength, respectively. The results were interpreted using a two-parameter Weibull distribution. Single filament composites with polypropylene matrix were used to study the level of fibre/matrix interactions expected for this system, from fragmentation tests.