ABSTRACT

Bleaching and softening of the hard fiber “Coir” renders it suitable for use in the coir industry, which presently adopts various chemical treatment processes that are not eco-friendly. The present study aims at treatment of coir fibers with Averrhoa bilimbi for enhanced bleaching and softening. The quality of the treated fibers with respect to physical and chemical characterization viz. variation in lignin content, flexural rigidity to assess the degree of softness, light fastness, tensile strength and brightness index has been carried out. The treated fibers displayed remarkable increase in brightness index from 9.45 to 11.19. Removal of surface projections on the coir fiber upon treatment is evident from Scanning Electron Microscope images. These surface changes can be attributed to the fiber softening.

摘要

硬纤维“椰壳纤维”经过漂白和软化，使其适用于目前采用各种不环保的化学处理工艺的椰壳纤维行业。本研究旨在用Averrhoa bilimbi处理椰壳纤维以增强漂白和柔软性。处理过的纤维的质量与物理和化学特性有关，即。对木质素含量、抗弯刚度的变化进行了评估，以评估柔软度、耐光性、拉伸强度和亮度指数。处理后的纤维显示出从 9.45 到 11.19 的显着增加的亮度指数。从扫描电子显微镜图像可以明显看出处理后椰壳纤维上的表面突起的去除。这些表面变化可归因于纤维软化。