Effects of Biodegradation on the Structure and Properties of Windmill Palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) Fibers Using Different Chemical Treatments.

Changjie Chen,Guohe Wang,Weiwei Yin,Guicui Chen,Guangxiang Sun

doi:10.3390/ma10050514

Changjie Chen, Guohe Wang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10050514

Copy DOI

Abstract

In this work, windmill palm fiber (WPF), alkali-treated fiber (AF) without hemicellulose and bleached fiber (BF) without lignin were prepared and buried in soil for 30, 60 and 90 days. The surface morphology, chemical composition, crystallinity degree, mechanical properties, and residual mass rate of the samples, before and after biodegradation, were investigated. According to the results, soil burial degradation can remove the parenchyma cells and silica-bodies of WPF and deplete droplets containing the lignin of alkali-treated fiber after it has been buried for 30 days (AF30), and degradation of the single fiber cell wall of bleached fiber after it has been buried for 30 days (BF30). Buried in natural soil, lignin has a slower degradation rate than that of hemicellulose. WPF showed no significant differences in tensile strength after burial in soil for 90 days, because of the integrity fiber structure decreased the biodegradation. The most serious decrease, about 43%, in tensile strength occurred in AF after it had been buried for 90 days (BF90). This basic knowledge may be helpful for windmill palm fiber applications, especially for biodegradable composites.

Highlights

Cellulose, a dominant component in the vast majority of plant forms, which has an annual production that is estimated to be around 1.0 × 1011 ~1.0 × 1012 t [1,2,3], is a promising resource.In particular, annually renewable agricultural residues represent an abundant, inexpensive, and readily-available source of renewable lignocellulosic biomass [4]
Alkali treatment is a useful method of eliminating amorphous hemicellulose in order to improve the mechanical properties of lignocellulose fiber [9,10,11]
This paper focuses on the properties of windmill palm fibers (WPF), alkali-treated windmill palm fibers (AF), and bleached windmill palm fibers (BF), before and after soil burial degradation

Summary

Introduction

A dominant component in the vast majority of plant forms, which has an annual production that is estimated to be around 1.0 × 1011 ~1.0 × 1012 t [1,2,3], is a promising resource. Annually renewable agricultural residues represent an abundant, inexpensive, and readily-available source of renewable lignocellulosic biomass [4]. Increased attentions have been given to the production of novel materials for environmentally-friendly industrial use, post chemical modification [5]. Sodium chlorite (NaClO2 ) treatment is a common method for the bleaching of fibers. Alkali treatment is a useful method of eliminating amorphous hemicellulose in order to improve the mechanical properties of lignocellulose fiber [9,10,11]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion