BIODEGRADABLE COMPOSITES OF SUGARCANE BAGASSE AND VEGETAL POLYURETHANE FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS

Due to the environmental problems caused by polymers, it is desirable to use biodegradable biopolymers such as vegetable polyurethane and sugar cane bagasse fibers. Therefore, the work aimed at the development of biodegradable biocomposites of sugarcane bagasse fibers for application in orthoses and evaluated their viability through mechanical, chemical, biodegradation and computational simulation tests. It was possible to obtain PU composites with sugarcane bagasse, which showed good interaction through the analysis of scanning electron microscopy images. It was observed that the addition of sugar cane bagasse fibers to the PU increased impact resistance, Young's modulus, there was a decrease in elongation and hardness and that the addition of fibers maintained the maximum tension value. The water absorption test showed that the fibers increased water absorption and biodegradation compared to polyurethane, which is advantageous for the orthosis, as it causes less accumulation of water between the patient's skin and the orthosis and reduces problems of infections and wounds. The computational simulation showed that it would be possible to make an orthosis with the PU composite with sugarcane bagasse and that for that it would be necessary to optimize the design of the orthosis. The use of PU composite with sugarcane bagasse in the medical field is promising, as it is a non-toxic material, from a renewable source and that uses agro-industrial waste with low added value, also presenting the advantage of providing better comfort to the patient