ABSTRACT

In this work, treated and untreated Urena lobata fibers were characterized for use in polymer composites. The Urena lobata fibers were extracted by the water retting method and treated with 6 wt% NaOH solution. The influence of the alkaline treatment was characterized by chemical analysis, tensile tests, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was observed from the results of the chemical analysis that cellulose (59.85 ± 0.03%), hemicelluloses (15.47 ± 0.015%) and acid-insoluble lignin (26.13 ± 0.027%) increased, while there was a reduction in acid-soluble lignin (23.01 ± 0.015%) and ash (0.57 ± 0.01%). The treated fibers showed enhanced mechanical and structural properties than the untreated fibers due to more exposure of the crystalline cellulose in the treated fibers. The results compared well with other established natural fibers used for polymer matrix composite developments.

摘要

在这项工作中，经过处理和未经处理的Urena lobata纤维被表征为用于聚合物复合材料。Urena lobata通过水沤法提取纤维并用6wt％的NaOH溶液处理。通过化学分析、拉伸试验、扫描电子显微镜 (SEM)、X 射线衍射 (XRD) 和红外光谱 (FTIR) 对碱处理的影响进行了表征。从化学分析结果可以看出，纤维素（59.85±0.03%）、半纤维素（15.47±0.015%）和酸不溶性木质素（26.13±0.027%）增加，而酸溶性木质素减少（ 23.01 ± 0.015%) 和灰分 (0.57 ± 0.01%)。由于处理过的纤维中结晶纤维素更多地暴露，处理过的纤维显示出比未经处理的纤维增强的机械和结构性能。该结果与用于聚合物基复合材料开发的其他已建立的天然纤维相比较。