**Author details**

**Table 5**. From the discussion in **Table 5**, we can notice that F-N enhances the

*Thermal characteristics of PVOH and SBR-based composites reinforced with F-N layers of* Opuntia

30–120 Evaporation of residual moisture

*Invasive Species - Introduction Pathways, Economic Impact, and Possible Management Options*

120–380 Degradation of hemicelluloses in lignocellulosic fibers and the elimination

380–520 Decomposition of chain segments of PVOH molecules and lignocellulosic

30–300 Evaporation of absorbed moisture and residual water in SBR latex 300–570 Volatilization of SBR (styrene derivative) and lignocellulosic fibers

of hydroxide groups from PVOH in the form of water molecules

compounds (cellulose and lignin)

(cellulose and lignin)

but also as a solution to alleviating the uncertainty of the petroleum supply.

*Opuntia* (Cactaceae) is an alternative and sustainable plant for fiber production for semiarid and arid regions. It is in large quantities and considered as a useful source in most countries without forests. Indeed, natural fibers derived from Tunisian *Opuntia* (Cactaceae) plants prove their greatest potentials for use in paper manufacturing by applying two pulping processes which affects the pulp properties and paper characteristics and composite applications (as reinforcement in thermoplastic polymers) because of their excellent characteristics such as low density, high specific stiffness, good mechanical properties, biodegradability, eco-friendliness, and good thermal resistance. *Opuntia* fibers can be a good reinforcement candidate for high-performance biodegradable polymer composites. This study has paved the way of proposing this xerophyte genus as a suitable new resource of non-woody fibers at different fields and as an environmentally friendly alternative to green

The authors would like to express their deep gratitude to Mohamed Naceur Belgacem, Professor and Director of the Grenoble INP-Pagora and Agefpi, for his

The biodegradability potential (BP) (soil-burial test) of the matrix and produced composites were obtained by the mass retention technique, following the procedure outlined in literature [60, 61], and the results are given in the previous work [57]. The evolution of BP vs. time for the different materials after soil burial decreases gradually and tends to 93 and 86.6%, respectively, for PVOH/F-N and SBR/F-N [57]. These values are higher than those reported for PVOH/palm kernel shell powder bio-composites (20%) [62] and PVOH/corn starch films (40%) [63]. It should be mentioned that cellulosic fibers from *Opuntia* (Cactaceae) plant, PVOH, and SBR are biodegradable in nature, in which they may serve as a source of energy and carbon for specific microorganisms [64, 65]. From this study, eco-friendly *Opuntia*-derived fiber-reinforced polymer (thermoplastic) composites would be the materials for near future not only as a solution to the growing environmental threat

thermal properties of the used thermoplastic polymers.

*(Cactaceae) trunk obtained from TGA measurements.*

**Composites T (°C) Discussion**

**4. Conclusions**

PVOH/F-N [57]

SBR/F-N [57]

**Table 5.**

product.

**152**

**Acknowledgements**

Faten Mannai<sup>1</sup> , Ramzi Khiari4,5,6 and Younes Moussaoui2,3\*

1 Material Environment and Energy Laboratory (UR14ES26), Faculty of Sciences of Gafsa, University of Gafsa, Tunisia

2 Organic Chemistry Laboratory (LR17ES08), Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia

3 Faculty of Sciences of Gafsa, University of Gafsa, Tunisia

4 Faculty of Sciences, UR13 ES 63, Research Unity of Applied Chemistry and Environment, University of Monastir, Monastir, Tunisia

5 Department of Textile, Higher Institute of Technological Studies of Ksar Hellal, Tunisia

6 University of Grenoble Alpes CNRS, Grenoble, France

\*Address all correspondence to: y.moussaoui2@gmx.fr

© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
