Natural Bamboo (Neosinocalamus affinis Keng) Fiber Identification Using FT-IR and 2D-IR Correlation Spectroscopy

Abstract

The objective of this study as to identify natural bamboo (Neosinocalamus affinis Keng) fiber through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), second derivative IR spectra, and two-dimensional infrared correlation spectroscopy (2D-IR). Textile plant fibers, including natural bamboo, jute, and flax fibers, were collected, and isolated by hydrogen peroxide and glacial acetic acid becoming single fibers to avoid uncontrolled influence. All the chemically treated plant fibers showed generally similar IR spectral profiles. However, different numbers of peaks in the range of 1,300–1,200/cm and the variation in peak intensity at around 1,059/cm were observed for bamboo fiber differentiation. A few differences in their second derivative IR spectra between bamboo fiber and the other plant fibers also provided information for differentiation. Furthermore, the characteristic features of bamboo fiber were presented in 2D-IR correlation synchronous spectra in the range of 800–1,200/cm and 1,425–1,750/cm, which were obviously distinguished from other investigated fibers. In addition, the results showed that the distinction between bamboo fiber and bamboo pulp fiber could be easily carried out using FT-IR and 2D-IR spectroscopy because of their different chemical compositions and crystal lattice types of cellulose (I, II). Therefore, it is demonstrated that FT-IR combined with 2D-IR correlation spectroscopy can become a new approach for natural bamboo fiber identification.