Novel chemical degumming process and its effect on structure and properties of mulberry fibres

Abstract

A novel chemical degumming (Fibre-N) method has been used to extract fibres from the bark of mulberry plant. Fibres obtained by a new method (Fibre-N) are characterized by the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy, residual gum content, fibre yield, and mechanical property measurement. Fibre-N method exhibits 17.71% lower residual gum content, 37.18% higher breaking strength, 18.36% higher breaking elongation and 10.81% higher fibre yield. Fibre-N process used to extract fibres from mulberry plant is more economical and efficient, which could be used as a promising method for producing textile yarns, nonwovens, and composites.