Physicochemical and Thermal Properties of Cellulosic Fiber Extracted from the Bark of Albizia Saman

Abstract

The environmental threats posed by manmade composites during their disposal and depletion of fossil fuel resources have necessitated the application of ecofriendly materials for composite making. In the recent decades, many plant fibers with promising potentials required for reinforcing composites have been identified and used for various applications. In this paper, physical, mechanical, and thermal properties in addition to chemical composition of novel lignocellulosic fiber extracted from the bark of Albizia saman (AS) have been reported. Chemical tests on ASFs revealed the presence of high cellulose and lignin contents (60.76% and 14.64%), which contributes significantly to the strength and rigidity of the AS fiber. FT-IR and X-ray diffraction study confirmed the presence of cellulose with high degree of crystallinity (57.69%) and crystallite size (2.85 nm). Thermal stability of ASFs studied through Thermogravimetric, Derivative Thermogravimetric, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry curves revealed the maximum degradation of ASFs as 306.19°C with kinetic activation energy (KAE) of 64.01 kJ/mol. The tensile strength and tensile strain of ASFs was found to be to be in the range 381–1092 MPa and 1.65–4.42%, respectively, and the value of tensile modulus was found to be 9.68–42.31 GPa. From the results, it can be concluded that ASFs possess the essential characteristics required for reinforcing composites and hence can be suitably used for making green composites.

Keywords

• albizia saman fiber
• cellulose
• chemical analysis
• crystallinity index
• thermal stability