A Preliminary Study: Influence of Alkali Treatment on Physical and Mechanical Properties of Agel Leaf Fiber (<i>Corypha gebanga</i>)

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate the alkali treatment influence on tensile strength physical and mechanical properties of agel leaf fibers (ALF). The presence of surface impurities and the large amount of hydroxyl groups make plant fibers less attractive for polymeric materials reinforcement. ALF were subjected to alkali treatments with 2 and 4% NaOH solutions for different soaking times of 1, 12, and 24 hours at room temperature. The tensile test of single fiber was done according to ASTM D3379-75 standard. The chemical changes and the fiber surface after alkali treatment were investigated by using Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Tensile tests showed the alkali treatment of ALF results in different tensile strength compared to untreated ALF. The highest tensile strength (1464 MPa) is found for ALF immersed in 4% NaOH for 1 hour. FTIR showed that the hemicellulose and lignin components in the ALF are removed by NaOH treatment. SEM observation of the treated ALF showed the removal of impurities and the increase of roughness on the ALF surface with alkalization. These results show that alkali treatment can increase the tensile strength of ALF.

Physicomechanical Properties of Treated Oil Palm-Broom Fibers for Cementitious Composites

“…This re-alignment increased the packing of the microfibrils and therefore a reduced (but denser) cross-section for the OPBF as revealed in Fig 5 (h1 and h2). The appearance of micropores on the surface of alkali treated OPBF is also consistent with other studies (Izani et al 2013;Osoka and Onukwuli 2015;Hestiawan et al 2016) The reaction between triethoxyvinylsilane and water results in the formation of silanol and alcohol as shown in Eq. (1).…”

Characterization and optimization of alkali-treated yushania alpina bamboo fiber properties: case study of ethiopia species

“…Using BBD can strongly decrease the number of experimental sets without diminishing the exactness of the optimization compared with conventional factorial design methods [50]. The study presents by focusing on the effect of plant age, alkali concentration, and soaking time on the mechanical properties because in the case of alkali-treated single fibers the cellulose content is highly affected by these factors [26,46,51,52]. All variables (plant age, NaOH concentration, and soaking time) can be coded as, low (− 1) medium (0), and high (+ 1).…”

Extensive characterization of pretreated/enzyme treated cellulosicAreca catechu L. peduncle fiber for polymer composite applications

“…Figure 3 depict the surface SEM images of ACTPF and PAACTPF which had optimal mechanical characteristics. It is observed from Figure 3a that the surface of ACTPF is even with fibrils and impurities being wrapped over the exterior surface of fiber by means of amorphous components and pectin 39 . On the other hand, the observations of SEM images of PAACTPF depicted in Figure 3b exhibit more uneven surfaces.…”

“…It is observed from Figure 3a that the surface of ACTPF is even with fibrils and impurities being wrapped over the exterior surface of fiber by means of amorphous components and pectin. 39 On the other hand, the observations of SEM images of PAACTPF depicted in Figure 3b exhibit more uneven surfaces. This is due to the disintegration of amorphous contents and pectin from ACTPF during pectinase treatment.…”