Abstract—In the fibrocement industry of tiles and sheets,
various kinds of natural fibers are used as reinforcement to
improve the properties of the products. Although the use of
fibrocement material presents a great potential due to the low
cost and the high availability of vegetable fibers, several
investigations have showed a behavior of low durability and
rapid deterioration of the cellulosic material in an alkaline
medium. With the purpose of contributing to this knowledge,
the present study evaluated bleached and unbleached cellulosic
pulp of eucalyptus before and after the thermal treatment
consisting of 4 cycles of drying and rewetting denominated
hornification. Analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were performed. SEM images
indicated morphological changes on the surface of treated
bleached and unbleached eucalyptus cellulosic pulps. Based on
XRDresults, the treatment hornification did not cause the
deterioration of crystalline cellulose of the fibers.
Index Terms—Cement-based matrix, cellulosic fiber,
hornification, composite.
Julian Eduardo Mejia Ballesteros, Juliano Fiorelli, and Holmer Savastano
Junior are with Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga-SP,
CEP, 13635-900, Brasil (e-mail: Julian.mejia@usp.br,
julianofiorelli@usp.br, holmersj@usp.br).
Lisa Vidil is with the Laboratory COVACHIM-M2A3592, UFR SEN,
University of the French West Indies and French Guiana, BP 230, 97157
Pointe-à-Pitre Cedex, Guadeloupe, France (e-mail: lisa.vidil@univ-ag.rf)
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Cite: Julian E. Mejia B., Juliano Fiorelli, Holmer Savastano Jr., and Lisa Vidil, "Evaluation of the Effect of Drying and Rewetting Cycles in
Eucalyptus Pulps," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 397-400, 2015.
