Morphological and thermal analysis of retted rattan waste fibers
The aim of this paper is to study the effects of retting processes on rattan waste fibers, specifically on its morphological and thermal properties. The fibers were prepared for water and chemical retting processes, and were labelled as RF, WRF and CRF for untreated rattan, water-retted rattan and c...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Unique Research Publishers
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/74558/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/74558/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/74558/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/74558/1/Morphological%20and%20Thermal%20Analysis%20of%20Retted%20RWF.pdf |
| Summary: | The aim of this paper is to study the effects of retting processes on rattan waste fibers, specifically on its morphological and thermal properties. The fibers were prepared for water and chemical retting processes, and were labelled as RF, WRF and CRF for untreated rattan, water-retted rattan and chemical-retted rattan, respectively. Then, these fibers were mixed and hot-pressed into composite boards, which were analyzed for their thermal, strength and morphology properties. Comparatively from Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), the WRF has higher thermal stability at lower decomposition temperature, yet the CRF has slightly lower thermal stability compared to RF. It also shows that the retting processes have reduced moisture content inside rattan waste fibers. All the fibers underwent an endothermic process in Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis, where it also displayed that the melting point of RWF, WRF and CRF were 177.80 °C, 183.43 °C, 187.27 °C, respectively. Tensile tests showed that the water retting process had improved the strength properties of WRF/PLA composite board compared other boards. It is supported through the morphological structures of boards. The RF/PLA and WRF/PLA displayed smooth board surfaces indicating the better bonding between fiber and matrix. The removal of certain components such as hemicellulose, lignin and other impurities, obviously can be seen from the morphology of WRF and CRF. It resulted in coarser and rougher fiber surfaces that facilitated good bonding between fibers and matrix as well as reasonable thermal stability. Thus, it is recommended to apply the water retting process before proceeding with fabrication of composite boards. |
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