Evaluation of Castor Oil Cake Starch and Recovered Glycerol and Development of "Green" Composites Based on Those with Plant Fibers.
José Luis Guimarães, Ana Cristina Trindade Cursino, Cyro Ketzer Saul, Maria Rita Sierrakowski, Luiz Pereira Ramos, Kestur Gundappa Satyanarayana
Author Information
José Luis Guimarães: Setor de Educação Profissional e Tecnológica; Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, Rua Alcides Vieira Arcoverde, 1225, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81520-260, Brazil. jluisguimaraes@gmail.com.
Ana Cristina Trindade Cursino: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19081, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil. anatcursino@gmail.com.
Cyro Ketzer Saul: Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19044, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil. cyro.saul@gmail.com.
Maria Rita Sierrakowski: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19081, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil. mariarita.sierakowski@gmail.com.
Luiz Pereira Ramos: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19081, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil. luiz.ramos@ufpr.br.
Kestur Gundappa Satyanarayana: Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Paraná-UFPR, Centro Politécnico, P. B. No.19081, Jardim das Américas, Curitiba 81531-980, Brazil. gundsat42@hotmail.com.
Continuous efforts are being made in some countries for the recovery of crude glycerin (RG/CG) and castor oil cake (COC), the two byproducts of biodiesel production. These are expected to help, not only in addressing environmental safety, but also in adding value to those byproducts, which otherwise may go to waste. Finding ways to utilize those byproducts underlines the main objective of this study. This paper presents the evaluation of (i) COC, glycerin and banana and sugarcane fibers for moisture content; (ii) COC for structural and thermal properties; and (iii) CG for its chemical characteristics. The possibility of using COC and CG with the selected fibers as reinforcement in the development of bio-composites is attempted through thermo-molding. Results revealed enhanced mechanical properties for these composites. The obtained results are discussed in terms of the observed morphology.
