Sustainable yarns and fabrics from tri-blends of banana, cotton and tencel fibres for textile applications

Abstract

Millions of tons of banana pseudo-stem are readily available annually, making it a sustainable resource for banana fiber. Banana fibres possess inherent mechanical strength and anti-microbial properties, accompanied by stiffness and a harsh feel that undermine their full utilization in textiles. An effort was made in this study to create eco-friendly yarns and fabrics by combining banana fiber reclaimed from banana agro-waste with cotton and regenerated cellulosic (Tencel) fiber in varying blend ratios. The negative influence attached to banana fibre due to its chemical softening was overcome by boiling it in distilled water. The softened banana fibres were evaluated based on feel, strength, and weight loss. Three blend ratios, i.e., 10%, 20%, and 30% of banana fibre by weight, were selected to produce Banana: Cotton: Tencel blended yarns. Yarn characterizations revealed excellent mechanical properties as compared to the benchmark Cotton: Tencel 50:50 yarns. The yarn bundle strength and single yarn strength obtained in the case of 20% banana fibre blended yarn were approximately 11% and 8.62% higher than the Cotton: Tencel 50:50 blended yarns and 22.90% better in the yarn quality index analysis, respectively. Fabrics were formed using the said yarns on an industrial loom. Banana fibre blended fabrics exhibited a 6.61% higher tear strength, 18.8% more air permeability, 20% more elongation, and 12% higher tensile strength as compared to the Cotton: Tencel blended fabrics. The provided findings in this study propose that following this design approach during textile manufacturing will lead to more environmental and economic gains with high performance.