To obtain a highly transparent fiber-reinforced composite material comprising a cellulose fiber assembly of 4 to 200 nm average fiber diameter impregnated with a matrix material so as to realize not only improvement in hygroscopicity attributed to cellulose fiber but also transparency enhancement.
The fiber-reinforced composite material is obtained by impregnating a cellulose fiber assembly with a matrix material. The hydroxyls of cellulose fibers are chemically modified through reaction with one or two or more chemical modifying agents selected from the group consisting of an acid, alcohol, halogenating reagent, acid anhydride and isocyanate so that the ratio of functional groups introduced by the chemical modification is in the range of 5 to 40 mol% based on the hydroxyls of cellulose fibers before the chemical modification. By virtue of the chemical modification of hydroxyls of cellulose fibers, the hydrophilicity of cellulose fibers can be reduced to thereby reduce the hygroscopicity of fiber-reinforced composite material. Further, the affinity between cellulose fibers and matrix material can be enhanced to thereby attain a transparency enhancement.
ATAGI MASAYA
NAKATSUBO FUMIAKI
IFUKU SHINSUKE
ROHM CO LTD
MITSUBISHI CHEM CORP
HITACHI LTD
PIONEER ELECTRONIC CORP
NIPPON TELEGRAPH & TELEPHONE
| JP2005060680A | 2005-03-10 |