Chemical treatment of nettle ribbons and its effect on tensile property of extracted fiber

Abstract

Stinging nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) is a cellulosic plant fiber which is abundantly available in the upper regions of Himalayas. The stem fibres are pliable which are used to weave or knit fabric. This fiber is very strong, but rigid and inextensible. This has restricted its usage in handmade textile products only. In order to process this fiber on a range of textile machines for development of a variety of products with enhanced performance, the fiber needs to be strong, flexible and extensible. This study was aimed at to increase the fiber tenacity by giving chemical pre-treatment. The effects of various experimental parameters, such as chemical concentration and time on tenacity of nettle fibres were studied. In the study, the chemical pre-treated nettle fibers were examined for their mechanical characteristics and compared to untreated fibers (control sample). The untreated fiber was less flexible and less extensible. A pre-treatment resulted in increase in tenacity and elongation at break. The increase in tensile strength was found to be 5.46 g/den from 3.84 g/den (as in case of control sample) and elongation increased to 3.33% from 1.66%.

Archives of Metallurgy and Materials

“…The chemicals sodium hydroxide pellets (low chloride) with examine (NaOH), sodium sulphite (Na₂SO 3 ), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (eDTa), water (H 2 O), distilled water, acetic acid (CH 3 COOH), thermometers, flasks, and beakers were usually utilised for natural bast fibre chemical alkali treatment [5,34].…”

“…The tensile strength and elongation at break values of the nettle samples were determined using an asTm D-3379 in accordance with the IsO 13934-1 standard. The five nettle fibre samples were prepared and used to measure the average value of fibre length, fineness, fibre diameter, tenacity, Young's modulus and moisture content [34,35]. The average percentage moisture content was computed using five nettle fibre samples.…”

“…These results can be explained in terms of the internal structure of the fibre such as cell structure, microfibrillar angle and defects of fibre breaking mechanism [34]. as a result, the matrix of a flax fibre becomes extremely anisotropic, consisting of hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin (all of which have different characteristics).…”