WATER SORPTION PROPERTIES OF FIBERS FROM TROPICAL PLANTS

Abstract

Structure and properties of five kinds of cellulosic raw fiber obtained from abaca (musa tex-tiles nee), banana (musa vavendishii), kenaf (sibiscus cannabinus linn), maguey (agave cantala roxb) and ramie (boehmeria nivea) were investigated by polarizing light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry and gravimetric water-sorption measurement. The crystallinity (x) of the fibers was ranged from 47 to 61% for raw fibers and from 52 to 66% for fibers treated by aqueous solution of NaOH. The number of water molecules attached to the fibers were found to decrease with increasing x, indicating that water molecules were sorbed on the hydroxyl groups in the amorphous region of cellulose.