Characterization of new natural cellulosic fiber from the Ipomoea staphylina plant

ABSTRACT

Natural fibers extracted from plants play a major role as reinforcement in polymer composite materials due to their superior properties. This work aims to comprehensively characterize the physical and chemical properties of Ipomoea staphylina fibers (ISFs), which are extracted from the stem of the Ipomoea staphylina plant. The ISFs show cellulose content (72.76 wt%), hemicelluloses content (13.6 wt%), density (1401 kg cm⁻³), and tensile strength of 173–658 MPa with a strain rate of 2.03–6.63%. The thermal stability of ISFs illustrate that the fibers are stable up to a temperature of 311°C with kinetic activation energy of 99.82 kJ mol⁻¹.

KEYWORDS:

• Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
• Ipomoea staphylina
• scanning electron microscopy
• thermogravimetric analysis
• X-ray diffraction