Preparation of biodegradable composite with palm heart agroindustry waste biomass.

Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is a multi-purpose palm tree, mainly utilized for food industry (fruits and palm core), being important cash income for smallholders. During the production process the palm core large amount of waste is generated and this can cause environmental problems. As a way to reuse the waste from peach palm agroindustry the aim this work was to produce biodegradable composites using different proportions (50, 55 e 60%) of peach palm residues (external sheaths) incorporated with polyurethane foam obtained from vegetable oils. Residues will be collected, dried in an oven at 65-70o C for 72 h, cut into small lengths on a Wiley mill and sifted through a mesh 35(500 ?m). Then, incorporated with polyurethane rigid foam derived from vegetable oil. Both the raw materials and their composites will be characterized. Composites produced from the residues of the palm heart agroindustry have adequate thermo-mechanical characteristics, being a water-resistant and thermo-stable material.