Extending the value chain of corn agriculture by evaluating technical feasibility and the quality of the interphase of chemo-thermomechanical fiber from corn stover reinforced polypropylene biocomposites

With the increasing concerns towards the environment, industries are interested in substituting glass fibers by natural fiber. Nonetheless, filaments or strands from jute, hemp or abaca, are mainly used as reinforcement. Such fibers are, in some cases, more expensive than the glass fibers that are replacing. Grain corn harvest creates a huge amount of by-products in the shape of corn stover. These stover usually remains in the field to be incinerated, or recovered to prepare feedstuff, or bedding for livestock. Besides, corn is a globally spread crop, and consequently, corn stover becomes available as renewable source for reinforcing fibers. The aim and main novelty of the research is transforming a by-product as corn stover into a cheap source of reinforcing fibers to obtain competitive biocomposites. To do so, such biocomposites must show mechanical properties comparable to those materials currently present in the market. In this work, biocomposites reinforced with natural fibers from corn stover are used as reinforcement of polypropylene; their mechanical properties are investigated and compared. Moreover, the interphase between the reinforcement and the matrix is also modelled by means of the Kelly and Tyson equation to assess its quality.