Extraction and Characterization of Fibers from Ethiopian Finger Euphorbia (Euphorbia Tirucalli) Plants

Abstract

Natural fibers continue to drive enormous interest from researchers and textile manufacturers mainly due to their eco-friendly and cost-effective features. This is implied in terms of their low cost, renewability, biodegradability, and the need for low energy for their production. The purpose of the present study is to extract and characterize textile fibers from a native plant in Ethiopia known as finger euphorbia. The finger euphorbia fibers were extracted from the plant using water retting and alkali methods. The extracted fiber was analyzed using FT-IR to know the unknown functional group and the chemical bonds on the fiber molecule. Extracted performance was studied from 1%, 3%, and 5% NaOH for 60 min at boiling temperature. The tensile strength of finger euphorbia fiber was 5.8cN/dtex (water retting) and 3.4 cN/dtex (3% NaOH extracted) almost similar to sisal fibers. The moisture content of finger euphorbia fiber was 9.08% by water retting and 8.4% by 3% NaOH almost similar to jute and flax fibers. The fineness of 1.87 tex water retting decreased from 1.02 tex. Natural Fibers from the finger euphorbia could be used as an alternative material like composite, apparel, and related textile applications.

Keywords

• finger euphorbia plant
• characterization
• chemical treatment
• retting
• natural fibers