STUDY ON SOME CHEMICAL TREATMENTS OF BANANA FIBER FOR SPINNING

Abstract

Banana fber is one of long and strong natural fbers, possessing many superior properties (such as water resistant, antimicrobial, fre retardant, wrinkle resistant…) similar to those of flax, jute, ramie & cotton fbers, so it can be completely de-gummed, softened, combed and spun to be used in haute couture, decorative, furniture and industrial products. However, after being stripped and decorticated, the banana fber still contains lot of pectin & lignin, so it is rough, dark colour and has limited spinnability. This article studies and compares two typical processes of scouring-bleaching banana fber by chemical method. The research team has carried out two options of scouring-bleaching process: 1. Scouring-bleaching banana fber in diluted solution of H2O2 5% in combination with NaOH 4%, liquid ratio 1:20, at 95 oC during 30 minutes; 2. Scouring-bleaching banana fber in diluted solution of H2O2 5% in combination with Na2SO3 2%, liquid ratio 1:20, at 95 oC during 30 minute. The testing results of tensile strength, whiteness index, and weight loss show that alkali treatment separated banana fber bundles into smaller bundles and single fbers. The best results were obtained by the option 2: fber tensile strength loss, fber whiteness index were equivalent to those of the option 1 but the degumming effect (fber weight loss) was considerably higher compared to the option 1.