Are nettle fibers produced on metal-contaminated lands suitable for composite applications?

Thomas Jeannin (1) , Loïc Yung (2) , Philippe Evon (3) , Laurent Labonne (3) , Pierre Ouagne (4) , Michael Lecourt , David Cazaux (5) , Michel Chalot (2) , Vincent Placet (1)

1 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
2 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
3 CAI - Chimie Agro-Industrielle
4 LGP - Laboratoire Génie de Production
5 INOVYN France

This work assesses the potential of nettle (Urtica dioica L.) fibers produced on contaminated lands for composite applications. The nettles studied in this work grew spontaneously and in a prevalent manner in poplar short rotation coppice planted for the phytomanagement of a land contaminated by traces of metals. Results show that the contaminant contents in nettle bast fibers are low: only traces were mea-sured. It makes it possible to consider this biomass for material use. The measured matter yield is lower than those obtained with traditional fiber crops cultivated in Europe on agricultural lands but the tensile properties of the bast fibers are equal to or better than those of hemp and flax, making spontaneous nettle an interesting supplement to traditional European fiber crops for composite applications.

Mots clés: Nettle fibers; Metal-contaminated lands; Phytomanagement; Composite; Single fiber test

Domaines: Sylviculture, foresterie; Ecotoxicologie; Matériaux; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]

Thomas Jeannin, Loïc Yung, Philippe Evon, Laurent Labonne, Pierre Ouagne, et al.. Are nettle fibers produced on metal-contaminated lands suitable for composite applications?. 4th International Conference on Natural Fibers – Smart Sustainable Materials, ICNF 2019, Aug 2019, Porto, Portugal. pp.S291-S295, ⟨10.1016/j.matpr.2020.01.365⟩. ⟨hal-03034370⟩