Effects of Treatment-Duration on Mechanical, Chemical, Structural and Thermal Properties of Baobab-Pod Fibres

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, the surface of baobab pod fibers (BPFs) is treated using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at various (0 min to 100 min at step size of 20 min) soaking time. The samples are labeled A, B, C, D, E and F. The effect of mercerization on the fibers is investigated via structural, morphological, mechanical, chemical and thermal analyses. The structural test reveals that sample E (80 min treated fiber) is the optimized BPF with percentage of crystallinity (%Cr) of 70.07%. The morphological test also indicates that sample E (80 min treated fiber) is the optimized fiber due to its roughened surface. Also, the chemical spectra show the presence of Na in the treated fibers and the intensity of Na increases as the soaking time increases. The maximum tensile stress and Young’s modulus of optimized BPF are 390 MPa and 5.94 GPa, respectively for sample E from mechanical analysis. The initial transition temperature range is from 231 to 248 ℃ and the final transition temperature range of 323 to 398 ℃ is obtained from thermal stability analysis. The thermal stability measurements indicate that treatment of BPFs for 80 min is the optimized duration and enhances the thermal stability of the BPFs.