Characterization of Tensile Properties of Cola lepidota Fibers

Abstract

Plant fibers are being increasingly explored for their use in engineering polymers and composites, and many works have described their properties, especially for flax and hemp fibers. Nevertheless, the availability of plant fibers varies according to the geographical location on the planet. This study presents the first work on the mechanical properties of a tropical fiber extracted from the bast of Cola lepidota (CL) plant. After a debarking step, CL fibers were extracted manually by wet-retting. The tensile properties are first identified experimentally at the fibers scale, and the analysis of the results shows the great influence of the cross-section parameters (diameter, intrinsic porosities) on these properties. Tensile properties of CL fibers are also predicted by the impregnated fiber bundle test (IFBT). At this scale of bundles, a hackling step, which reduces shives and contributes to the parallelization of the fibers within bundles, improves tensile properties predicted by IFBT. The comparison with the properties of plant fibers given in the literature shows that CL fibers have tensile properties in the same range as kenaf, flax or hemp fibers.

Influence of sampling area and extraction method on the thermal, physical and mechanical properties of Cameroonian Ananas comosus leaf fibers

“…(2015) for pineapple fibers, and Duval et al. (2011) for certain hemp fibers and Ndoumou et al. (2022) for fibers from Cameroonian Cola lepidota .…”

Elaboration and Characterization of a Plaster Reinforced with Fibers from the Stem of <i>Cola lepidota</i> for Industrial Applications

“…The intrinsic porosity of CL fibers is 13% [13]. This intrinsic porosity is of the order of that of hemp fibers and has a great influence on stress concentrations and entrainment failure within a fiber [30] [38].…”

“…Previous studies have characterized the stem fiber of CL [13] [30]. Those used come from the bark of the stem of the kola tree, genus CL present in the humid forest of ebemewoman 2, which is a town located in southern Cameroon.…”

Hybrid Composite Based on Natural Rubber Reinforced with Short Fibers of the <i>Triumfetta cordifolia/Saccharum officinarum</i> L.: Performance Evaluation

“…Green reinforcements, including vegetable fibers, are an alternative to carbon black [8]. Indeed, vegetable fibers offer a low environmental impact, in addition to being renewable, widely available and healthy; they have relatively high specific mechanical properties combined with a low density [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]; they pose technological problems because they present low compatibility with the rubber matrix and are, an incompatibility related to their hydrophilic character. Indeed, the fibers are coated in surfaces of waxy substances (waxes and pectins) of dusts… which can involve a reduction of the tensile strength [14] without however forgetting the presence of the hydroxyl groups responsible for the hemicelluloses.…”

“…To this end, the orientation of local biomass is an opportunity for African countries in the equatorial region to develop new fibers such as Cola lepidota (CL) bark [10] [11], fibers from Rhectophyllum camerunense (RC) [24] and Neuropeltis Acuminatas (NA) [25] and Triumfetta cordifolia (TC) bast fiber [3]- [9] Triumfetta cordifolia bast fibers traditionally used to produce ropes are widely available and sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) bagasse fibers mainly used as fuel (in distilleries or sugar mills) [26] are available in Cameroonian biomass and the latter could be very interesting as reinforcement of the natural rubber matrix as they present a potential for many technical applications [3]- [27].…”