Morphological Structure and Basic Characteristics of Miscanthus floridulus Fibers.

Abstract

Miscanthusfloridulus fibers obtained from the seed floss of M. floridulus (a perinneal plant of Gramineae native to Africa and Asia and widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions) have potential application value in textile and other fields. At present, the biological characteristics and ecological benefits of Miscanthus floridus have been extensively studied by researchers, but there have been no literature on M. floridus fibers. In order to make reasonable use of M. floridus fibers, their morphological structure, physical properties, chemical composition, thermal insulation properties, and surface absorption properties were explored in detail in this study. The results showed that the M. floridus fiber is fine and short and has a hollow structure with a density of 0.67 g cm–3. Chemical analyses revealed that the main constituents of the fiber are cellulose (66.98%), hemicelluloses (13.86%), lignin (6.97%), pectin (1.99%), and wax (4.38%). The fill power and warmth retention performance of the fiber are similar to those of wool. In particular, the M. floridus fiber surface has hydrophobic and lipophilic properties with a static contact angle of 123.7° for water droplets in equilibrium. Therefore, the M. floridus fiber has a promising application prospect in bulk textile thermal insulation and oil–water separation fields.