Properties of SBS and sisal fiber composites: ecological material for shoe manufacturing

The worldwide trend toward using cheap, atoxic and durable materials from renewable resources contributes to sustainable development. Thus, the investigation of the potential use of vegetal fibers as reinforcing agent in polymeric composites has gained new significance. Sisal fiber has emerged as a reinforcing material for polymers used in automobile, footwear and civil industries. In this work, properties such as hardness, tensile strength and tear strength of polymer composites composed by block copolymer styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) and 5, 10 and 20% by weight of sisal fiber were evaluated. The influence of conventional polymer processing techniques such as single-screw and double-screw extrusion, as well as the addition of coupling agent on the composite mechanical performance was investigated. Also, the morphology and thermal stability of the composites were analyzed. The addition of 2 wt. (%) maleic anhydride as coupling agent between sisal fiber and SBS has improved the composite mechanical performance and the processing in a double-screw extruder has favored the sisal fiber distribution in the SBS matrix