Physical characterization of cellulosic fibres from Sesbania grandiflora stem

Abstract

In the present investigation, the morphology and the porosity of the Sesbania grandiflora fibre has been studied by SEMin order to understand their effects on the capillary structure and the hygroscopic behavior. The physical properties, such astensile strength, elongation, density, fineness, morphological structure, water absorption coefficient and thermo-gravimetricanalysis, have been examined. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) are used to identify thecrystalline index and chemical groups present in the fibre. It has been found that this new vegetable material has a very lowbulk density and a highest water absorption capacity. FTIR and X-ray analyses have proved that these fibres are rich incellulosic content with crystallinity index of 51% cellulose content of 70.75 wt %, density of 1.4738 g/cc, and tensilestrength of 365-11100 Mpa. The results show that Sesbania grandiflora fibres have comparable fibre strength, elongationand cellulose content to jute, hemp, ramie, Phoenicx sp, okra and Prosopis juliflora. The new fibre has better crystallinityindex than banana, bagasse and sponge gourd and hence can be utilized for technical textiles application.