Sisal Fibre and Its Applications

Abstract

Sisal fibre is treated with alkali for the improvement of the fibre properties after being dewaxed and followed by vacuum oven drying. In order to measure all the effects on the sisal fibre composite due to the alkali( here KOH) treatment , various characterizing analyses such as XRD,SEM, FTIR and 3 point flexural tests are carried out. As a result of the treatment, the improvement on the surface of the fibre is observed due to the reduction of the impurities, lignin content etc , which is confirmed by FESEM analysis an increase in fibre strength is also obtained which may be due to better fibre-matrix linkage. A decrease in degree of crystallinity is observed during XRD analysis. However an increased physical and mechanical properties is observed due to the alkali treatment on the sisal fibre. Optimally 3% treated sample comes out to be the sample of choice