Dantas, Tereza Neuma de CastroSantiago, Pedro Victor Teixeira2018-07-052021-09-272018-07-052021-09-272018-06-14SANTIAGO, Pedro Victor Teixeira. Estudo das propriedades das fibras de coco modificadas com sistemas microemulsionados. 2018. 65f. Trabalho de Conclusão de Curso (Graduação em Engenharia Química) - Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2018.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/38718The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L) is a common plant in Brazilian northeastern coast and its consumption has generated huge amounts of residues and other environmental problems, such as high demand for disposal area and negative visual impact caused in cities. The utilization outlook of these rubbish, as the coconut fiber, has been changing due to environmental concern and the price rise of other raw materials, as synthetic fibers. In many of the new applications found for coconut fiber, the fiber undergoes a chemical treatment, justified by multiple reasons, such as improve fiber interaction with another component or change any physical property. In this work, a new type of chemical treatment using microemulsion systems was studied. The fibers treatment was held with three micellar structure types, observing the changes in the fibers structures through characterization tests as scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and contact angle analysis (wettability check). Therefore, a 32 full factorial design was carried out varying the treatment time and the microemulsion oil phase concentration aiming to verify these factors influence on the fiber wetting properties. The results showed that the chemical treatment changed the fiber wettability to water-wet as the oil phase increased. The statistical study showed a wettability increase for the fibers in 4 to 6-hour treatment and 30% of oil phase (bicontinuous micelle), being that the treatment optimal point. The results of the scanning electron microscopy showed that the treatment filled the coconut fibers pores. Finally, the thermogravimetric analysis proved that the treatment was very consistent with the studied literature, since it was possible to observe the burning of hemicellulose, lignin and cellulose at different temperatures.openAccessFibra de cocoTratamento químicoMicroemulsãoCaracterizaçãoMicroemulsionChemical treatmentCharacterizationCoconut fiberbachelorThesisEngenharias.