Abstract

Sheath of Palm tree indigenous to Ethiopia was used to extract fiber by chemical degumming using 80 % sodium hydroxide; bleached, softened and characterized the physical properties of the extracted fibers before and after softening. The extracted fibers were subjected to bleaching using 30% H₂O₂ bleaching agent to remove the reddish yellow color of the extracted. By mass; 203.4g of decorticated dried palm tree sheath was subjected to chemical degumming. Degumming of the raw decorticated palm sheath with 20% sodium hydroxide solution and 5% wetting agent was carried out. The degumming process was incubated at the temperature 120?Cfor 2hours. To remove residual gummy substances which are already dissolved and left on the fibers; the fibers were washed by warm water and dried. It's found that 28.87% degummed fiber was extracted. After bleaching the degummed fibers; the fibers were washed to remove residual H₂O₂from the fibers_. The bleached fibers were treated by silicone emulsion to soften the fibers. Finally the fibers were dried and their Characteristics (before and after softening); Longitudinal view, Tensile strength at break and Elongation at break characterized. Also moisture regain (R %) and moisture content (W %) of the softened fibers were characterized and found as 12.65 and 11.23% respectively.

Keywords

Fiber extraction, Bleaching, Softening, Characterization, Natural fibers, Palm, Kenaf, Jute, Hemp, Flax, Bamboo, Tensile strength, Sheath fiber