INFLUENCE OF ORGANIC PRO-DEGRADANT ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF AGROTEXTILE USED IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

Abstract

Currently disposable articles are widely used in people's daily lives and the disposal of these articles that do not return to the recycling process, generate a large amount of waste, causing various environmental, social and economic problems, in addition to requiring a great deal of decomposition period, which reduces the life span of landfills. Among the disposable articles, nonwovens are used in disposable diapers and tampons, medical clothes, filters, disposable caps, upholstery and mattresses, decoration materials, agriculture, among others. The focus of this work was on the use of nonwoven in the agricultural market, called agrotextile, used to protect crops against insects, abrupt variations in climate and the consequent significant decrease in the use of pesticides. From this, this study aims to evaluate the influence of the addition of the organic degrading agent (PDO) on the mechanical properties of the nonwoven. The raw material used for non-woven fabrics is polypropylene (PP) and PDO in two levels. The properties of Weight, Strength and Elongation of the nonwoven were analyzed with the addition of pro-degradant. Results of the mechanical test showed that the properties of Weight and Strength did not have great variations with the addition of PDO, whereas the property of Stretching demonstrated greater reduction with the addition of PDO in both contents.