quimica - chemistry: What is kenaf?

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Kenaf, Hibiscus cannabinus or belongs to the family Malvaceae and occurs in all continents but the largest producers are India and China. The kenaf fibers and are often compared to jute and hemp, with which it shares many of the applications described below:

* Traditional uses, low value: string, string, fabric, use in barns and feed
* Innovative applications of average value: paper, wood products, environmental mats, absorbent material for oil and liquids
* Kenaf oil: edible, can also be used in cosmetics, lubricants and biofuel production
* Composite materials or composites, high-value kenaf fibers can be used as filler or reinforcement, epoxy resin or thermoplastic

In addition to sharing many of these applications, shares his Resistance kenaf with hemp and jute, which makes them doubly organic crops because they do not require much water, pesticides or fertilizers to grow healthy.
Production
Samsung Cheil in Malaysia

Samsung Cheil, the Samsung group's Korean subsidiary, premiered in 2008, a center for collection, processing, packing and distribution of kenaf fiber. Although traditionally dedicated to the textile business, Samsung Cheil has diversified its business to cover other types of materials and chemicals. The strategic importance of the institution in Malaysia, which is the result of a joint effort between Samsung Cheil and Symphony Advance Sdn Bhd (SASB), is the development and marketing of plastic composite materials and fibers of kenaf. The initial goal is to export 1,000 tonnes a month, but is predicted to double this amount if you begin to commercialize the material in Japan. The added value of kenaf fiber, when used in composite materials, may be sufficient to allow the substitution of snuff for the cultivation of kenaf.
Kenaf Green Industries

Headquartered in Israel, Kenaf Green Industries offers its customers their knowledge of production, processing and marketing of kenaf, helping newcomers to establish their business. Kenaf Green Industries has begun a pilot project in Ethiopia for Global Energy, with the objective of planting 10,000 hectares of kenaf, which will complement the current production of ricin.
Enhancing the role

According to Treehugger, and Department of Agriculture of the United States, USDA, kenaf improves the performance of trees in paper production. Kenaf fibers contain less lignin than wood pulp, and therefore facilitate the process of production, reducing energy costs. The use of kenaf fiber paper also improves their properties, making it more robust, more white and improving the outcome of the print. It is for these reasons that is also used in paper reciclado.El kenaf fiber is not the only, or component, competing to replace natural trees as raw material of paper. Other candidates include hemp, bamboo and bagasse obtained from sugar cane.

Vision paper is a paper producer that uses no trees in the United States. Vision paper has been affected by the closure of U.S. paper mills and from March 2008 looking to buy their own equipment, to continue to produce independently role based on kenaf fibers.

Composites
Toyota cars

Toyota has investigated the use of kenaf in automotive applications for almost a decade. Toyota kenaf as a material used in a door frame in 2000, but in 2008 and used it in 5 components in a total of 27 models, mostly high end. Some of the earliest examples of where Toyota car parts used kenaf:

* 2000: Celsior. Door frame. Composite kenaf / polypropylene
* 2001: Brevis. Door frame. Composite kenaf / polypropylene
2003: Harrier. Marco panel door and seat. Composite kenaf / polypropylene
* 2003: Raum. Spare tire cover. Composite kenaf / polylactic acid

In May 2008, Toyota announced an agreement with the Indonesian Research Institute of Snuff and fibers for carrying out a development program of kenaf seed. Toyota has set itself the goal of making all parts of the interior of their cars with renewable materials, so that knowledge of kenaf production has become more vital than ever.
NEC and mobile

The combination of polylactic acid, PLA and kenaf fibers to create a biocomposite material or biocomposites as used to produce the piece of Toyota Raum is a strong tendency in the materials market. We have seen examples of biocomposites, in addition to automotives applications in electronic products such as Eco-Mobile NEC. Here we translate the NEC definition of Eco-Mobile:

A body whose roof is made of bioplastic reinforced with kenaf fibers. The material consists of polylactic acid from corn that have been added kenaf fibers and an additive of NEC as reinforcing agents. The new bioplastic has better mechanical properties and higher heat resistance than the PLA and its production process halved CO2 emissions caused by conventional plastic. It is the first time you use a material with such environmental credentials to produce the cover of a mobile. The Eco-Mobile was released to the market on 10 March 2006 by NTT DoCoMo under the brand name "FOMA (R) N701iECO.

Conclusion

Kenaf, like most natural fibers, still maintains a large unexploited potential in the world of materials. Its use in combination with bioplastics could improve the properties of these, opening up new applications for both materials.
Entries Related mundomaterial:

2009 International Year of Natural Fibers: the Fique in Colombia

2009 International Year of Natural Fibers

Bioplastic car radiator
Other sources of information:

Samsung Cheil Kenaf Malaysian project: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=354548

Try Out The 5 Best Kinds of Tree-Free Paper: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/tree-free-paper.html

Composites with PLA used in automotive; http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environment/recycle/design/recycle.html

Presentation on kenaf and automotive applicatiosn by Toyota http://www.bc.bangor.ac.uk/suscomp/assets/pdf/car% 20components.pdf

NEC Eco-Mobile: http://www.nec.co.jp/eco/en/annual2006/02/2-1.html