Effect of Chemical Treatments on the Properties of High-Density Luffa Mattress Filling Materials

Abstract

Luffa is a lightweight porous material with excellent biocompatibility and abundant resources. In this paper, three kinds of softening treatment methods, alkali-hydrogen peroxide (Method 1), alkali-acetic acid (Method 2), and alkali-urea (Method 3), were used to soften high-density (HD) cylindrical luffa (CL) mattress-filling materials (MFM). Microscopic observation, mechanical performance testing and other analyses were performed to evaluate the effects of the three kinds of softening methods on the wettability, compression resilience and support performance of CL MFM. The results showed that: (1) After the treatment by Method 1, Method 2 and Method 3, the peak stress of CL decreased by 73%, 10% and 27%, respectively. In addition, after three kinds of softening treatments, the uniformity of CL increased. (2) When the CL MFM of high density rank treated by Method 1 was compressed by 40%, the firmness values of the surface, core and bottom reduced by 53.49% 40.72%, and 46.17%, respectively, compared to that of untreated CL. In addition, for the CL MFM of high density rank treated by Method 3 and then compressed to 60%, the firmness of the surface layer, core layer and bottom layer reduced by 41.2%, 33.7%, and 36.9%, respectively. (3) The contact angle of luffa treated by Method 3 was the smallest, next came Method 1 and Method 2, and untreated was the largest. (4) After the treatment by Method 3, the fiber bundle of luffa was intact, and the compression resilience of the CL was obviously increased. Therefore, this method can effectively reduce the firmness of MFM and also improve the uniformity and wettability of CL.

Transforming Nature’s Bath Sponge into Stacking Faults-Enhanced Ag Nanorings-Decorated Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

“…This is also supported by the fact that when the washed LF was immersed in water for a few hours, the water surrounding the LF became visually blurry, indicating that the polymeric matrix of LF was experiencing some degree of component loss. Although it was discovered that the water uptake capacity of the washed LF was marginally higher compared to that treated with NaOH through gravimetric analysis in earlier studies, a standardized NaOH pretreatment procedure was adopted to ensure consistency and address these concerns. To understand the physical properties of the biomass substrate, the morphology of NaOH-washed LF without Ag catalyst was first studied by using SEM and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) for the sample prepared by carbonizing the LF at 900 °C.…”

Compression Property of TPEE-3D Fibrous Material and Its Application in Mattress Structural Layer

“…A higher S f value indicated a softer surface or a harder bottom of the material, which was directly related to the support capacity at different load levels [ 38 , 39 ]. The S f values of T 3D F ranged from 2.9 to 4.3 and decreased with increasing density ( Table 2 ).…”

The real reasons for choosing bushing fiber (Luffa cylindrica): A bibliographic review

“…The fiber compression resilience after treatment with 18% NaOH -6% CO(NH2) showed the highest compression resilience. This process is a result of the shrinkage of the cell wall of the fiber, which evolved from a hexagonal cell lumina to an open lattice with an irregularly shaped wrinkled structure, which provides the fiber with excellent elasticity [26].…”