Sisal fibers: surface chemical modification using reagent obtained from a renewable source; characterization of hemicellulose and lignin as model study.

Sisal fibers have one of the greatest potentials among other lignocellulosic fibers to reinforce polymer matrices in composites. Sisal fibers have been modified to improve their compatibility with phenolic polymer matrices using furfuryl alcohol (FA) and polyfurfuryl alcohols (PFA) that can be obtained from renewable sources. The modification corresponded first to oxidation with ClO 2, which reacts mainly with guaiacyl and syringyl units of lignin, generating o- and p-quinones and muconic derivatives, followed by reaction with FA or PFA. The FA and PFA modified fibers presented a thin similar layer, indicating the polymer character of the coating. The untreated and treated sisal fibers were characterized by (13)C CP-MAS NMR spectrometry, thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, for a better understanding of the reactions involved in the FA and PFA modifications, the sisal lignin previously extracted was also submitted to those reactions and characterized. The characterization of isolated lignin and hemicellulose provides some information on the chemical structure of the main constitutive macrocomponents of sisal fibers, such information being scarce in the literature.