Treated Banana Fiber Research Articles

Chemically Modified Banana Fiber: Structure, Dielectrical Properties and Biodegradability

Banana fibers, as well as other lignocellulosic fibers, are constituted of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, wax and water soluble components. The abundance of this fiber combined with the ease of its processing is an attractive feature, which makes it a valuable substitute for synthetic fibers that are potentially toxic. In this work, the structure characterization of the banana fiber modified by alkaline treatment was studied. Some important properties of this fiber changed due to some chemical treatments, such as the crystalline fraction, dielectric behavior, metal removal (governed by solution pH) and biodegradation. Our results showed that treated banana fiber is a low cost alternative for metal removal in aqueous industry effluents. Thus, for regions with low resources, the biosorbents are an alternative to diminish the impact of pollution caused by local industries, besides being a biodegradable product.

The role of interface modification on thermal degradation and crystallization behavior of composites from commingled polypropylene fiber and banana fiber

AbstractThe thermal degradation behavior of banana fiber and polypropylene/banana fiber composites has been studied by thermogravimetric analysis. Banana fiber was found to be decomposing in two stages, first one around 320°C and the second one around 450°C. For chemically treated banana fiber, the decomposition process has been at a higher temperature, indicating thermal stability for the treated fiber. Activation energies for thermal degradation were estimated using Coats and Redfern method. Calorific value of the banana fiber was measured using a constant volume isothermal bomb calorimeter. Crystallization studies exhibited an increase in the crystallization temperature and crystallinity of polypropylene upon the addition of banana fiber. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers

Study mechanical, swelling and dielectric properties of prehydrolysed banana fiber – Waste polyurethane foam composites

Untreated and treated banana fiber by maleic anhydride together with waste polyurethane foam were used to produce composites. Treated banana fiber reduces swelling and improve strength and dielectric properties. Also, addition of aluminum silicate exhibited enhancements in its dielectric properties at constant concentration lower than 10%. While, abrupt increase can be seen in the dielectric constant ( ε′) and dielectric loss ( ε′′) for samples contain more than 7.5% aluminum silicate. I.R and scanning electron microscope were studied.

Static and dynamic mechanical analysis of chemically modified randomly distributed short banana fiber reinforced high-density Polyethylene/Poly (Ε-caprolactonc) Composites

Randomly distributed short banana fiber reinforced HDPE/PCL (high-density polyethylene / poly (∈-caprolactone)) composites have been fabricated to determine the mechanical behavior at static and dynamic loading. To enhance the mechanical properties of matrix, poly caprolactone has been blended with high-density polyethylene. Three samples of banana fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide, sebacoyl chloride, and toluene diisocyanate solutions separately. It has been observed that banana fibers treated with sodium hydroxide give better mechanical properties compared to the other two solutions. The role of fiber/matrix interactions in chemically treated banana fibers reinforced composites was investigated to predict the stiffness and damping properties and their different mechanical behavior is compared with untreated banana fibers. In order to study the static and dynamic response of HDPE, HDPE/PCL blend, treated and untreated banana fiber reinforced composite plate, a multiquadric radial basis function (MQRBF) method was developed. MQRBF is applied for spatial discretization and a Newmark implicit scheme is used for temporal discretization. The discretization of the differential equations generates a larger number of algebraic equations than the unknown coefficients. To overcome this ill conditioning, the multiple linear regression analysis, which is based on the least square error norm, is employed to obtain the coefficients. Simple supported and clamped boundary conditions are considered. Numerical results are compared with those obtained by other analytical methods.

Effect of fiber loading and chemical treatments on thermophysical properties of banana fiber/polypropylene commingled composite materials

Abstract A periodical method was used to estimate the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat of polypropylene (PP)/banana fiber commingled composites at room temperature. These thermophysical properties of the composites were investigated as a function of the banana fiber loading and for different chemical treatments given to the banana fiber. It was found that the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of the composites decrease with fiber loading. But the specific heat of the fiber composites does not show a significant change. The use of chemically treated banana fibers caused an increase in the thermophysical properties of the composites irrespective of the nature of the chemical treatments. Of the various treatments given, the benzoylated fiber composites showed the highest values of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. It was also observed that NaOH concentration has an influence on the thermophysical properties of the composites. A 10% NaOH treated banana fiber composites showed better thermophysical properties than 2% NaOH treated banana fiber composites. The use of a theoretical series conduction model allowed estimating the transverse thermal conductivity of untreated banana fiber composites ( k f = 0.1166 ± 0.0001 W m −1 K −1 ).

Studies on Electrical Properties of Wood Polymer Composites Based on Agro-Waste and Novolac

In the present work, wood polymer composites from agro-waste (banana, hemp, and agave fibers) and novolac resin were prepared. Banana, hemp, and agave fibers were treated with novolac resin for the formation of their composites in the different ratios of 60:40, 55:45, 50:50, 45:55, and 40:60 (wt/wt). These fibers were also treated with maleic anhydride and the effect of maleic anhydride was studied on surface resistivity and volume resistivity of wood polymer composites. The maximum surface and volume resistivity is found in maleic anhydride treated and untreated banana fiber composite, respectively. The treatment of maleic anhydride improves the surface resistivity of respective fiber composites. Maleic anhydride treated banana fiber composite shows maximum surface resistivity while untreated agave fiber composite shows minimum surface resistivity.

Studies on swelling properties of wood/polymer composites based on agro‐waste and novolac

AbstractIn the present work the natural and maleic anhydride esterified fibers of banana, hemp, and sisal are used as reinforcers in novolac resin in the ratio of 40:60 (wt/wt) respectively. Absorption of water and steam in these wood/polymer composites is studied. The absorption of water increases with increase in time from 2 to 30 h in all fiber composites tested. Amongst all the composites, the maximum absorption of water is found in hemp fiber composite and the minimum in maleic anhydride treated sisal fiber composite. The maleic anhydride esterified fiber composite shows less absorption of water than the untreated fiber composites. Amongst all six composites, steam absorption is maximum in untreated hemp fiber composite and minimum in maleic anhydride treated banana fiber composite. Steam absorption in maleic anhydride treated fiber composites is higher than the water absorption in respective fiber composites. Untreated fiber composites show more absorption of steam in comparison to maleic anhydride treated fiber composites. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 23: 46–50, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/adv.10073