Water absorption of natural fiber is more likely to increase with the increase in cellulose content of the fiber due to the increase in the number of free hydroxyl groups existing in the fiber. Natural fibers are prone to water absorption due to their chemical composition rich in cellulose, hydrophilic in nature. Water absorption leads to swelling of the fiber.
Hence, NaOH treatment was done on each of the fiber samples with different concentrations in this work. The cellulose content in fiber positively influences the water absorption, whereas the outer layer of natural oil, wax, and fat hinder water molecules from penetrating inside the fiber. The presence of hydroxyl makes them a polar group, which is liable for water absorption. The constituents of these fibers, especially the cellulose being glucose, have hydroxyl groups (-OH). To be specific, in cotton fibers 80% - 94%, in areca fibers 53.20%, in pineapple leaf fibers 67% - 81%, and in banana fibers 65.112%, which has been mentioned in Table 1. Cotton has been used as a reference or standard to compare with.įibers from cottonseeds, areca nut husks, pineapple leaves, and banana pseudostems are cellulosic fibers and contain a very good amount of cellulose in their structures. Therefore, these three fibers have generated interest for performing this work.
These items are easily available in good amounts, and most importantly, they can provide natural textile fibers rich in cellulose. The banana plant stems, areca nut husks, and pineapple leaves are considered agro-wastes here, and the proper disposal facility of these huge amounts of waste is neither adequate nor practiced. Banana, areca, and pineapple are widely grown agricultural commodities of Bangladesh. Areca fibers, Pine Apple Leaf fibers (PALF), and banana fibers are three natural vegetable fibers that have a great prospect and potential in the textile field. Researchers have been looking for natural replacements of synthetic fibers, which will be easily available, green, renewable, and sustainable resources at the same time. Water absorption is one of the most important properties of textile fibers, which determines comfort, strength, elongation, and many other fabric or end-product properties. Natural fibers are in great demand in today’s world because of their superior properties. The reason behind this expectation was the surface study of the fibers. This work aimed to determine the water absorption characteristics of different natural fibers: banana fibers, Pineapple Leaf Fibers (PALF), and areca nut husk fibers, at raw and alkali-treated conditions to assess their suitable application areas with the feeling of expectation that the three latter mentioned fibers might rival the textile giant, cotton, with increased water absorption property. Alkali-treated cotton shows the highest water absorption, and areca fibers show approximately 60% water absorption of cotton. It appeared that at untreated conditions, the areca fiber has the highest water absorption capacity compared to the other fibers.
Later on, the fiber samples were immersed into distilled water, and water absorption percentages of the fibers were determined every 10 minutes within 1 hour in total. Fibers were scoured with different concentrations of alkali (2, 4, 6 gm/L NaOH), washed and neutralized with the dilute acetic acid solution, then dried. This work analyses water absorption of raw and alkali-treated cotton, arecas, pineapple leaves, and banana fibers. Water absorption of fibers is considered really important in many aspects, e.g., Sportech, Medtech, Geotech, etc. In every phase of life, from clothing to technical textiles, natural fibers are used. The demand for natural fibers has always been high due to their unique characteristics like strength, lightweight, availability, bio-degradability, etc.
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