Extraction and characterization of novel Sterculia foetida fruit shell fibre for composite applications
Pintu Pandit, M. D. Teli, Kunal Singha, Saptarshi Maiti, Subhankar Maity
Abstract
The novel Sterculia foetida fruit shell fibres were extracted by following a traditional method of water retting. The fibres were found to be lignocellulosic, comprising around 14.28 ± 0.2% of lignin in it. Its α-cellulose and hemicellulose contents were measured to be 45.44 ± 0.2% and 27.27 ± 0.2%, respectively, which are in a favorable range of textile fibres. The novel fibre exhibits good tensile strength and low extensibility, which can be used for making ropes, yarns, sacs, textile fabrics, composite materials, etc. Resin-based fibre reinforced composites were prepared with the fibres as reinforcement and compared with conventional jute fibre reinforced composites. It was observed that Sterculia foetida fruit shell fibre-based composites showed breaking stress, breaking elongation, and E-Modulus 16.912 MPa, 2.767% and 1011.67 MPa, respectively, which are comparable with the jute fibre-based composites (19.38 MPa, 2.23%, and 1017.33 MPa, respectively).