Effectiveness of Alkali and Sodium Bicarbonate Treatments on Sugar Palm Fiber: Mechanical, Thermal, and Chemical Investigations

ABSTRACT

Sugar palm fiber (SPF) as one of the attractive natural fibers to reinforce matrix is gaining attention. This is largely due to its similar properties when compared with other established natural fibers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of sodium bicarbonate as a treatment chemical for SPF in comparison with established alkaline treatment. Both treated and untreated fibers were characterized and it was found that the treated fiber shows an increase in crystallinity, thermal stability, and surface’s roughness when compared with the untreated. Among the two different treatments, SPF treated with alkali has an initial decomposition temperature of 255.47°C, while sodium bicarbonate treated and untreated fibers have 250.19°C and 246.76°C, respectively. In both cases, the thermal stability of the fiber was improved. Also, as revealed by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, the crystallinity index of SPF treated with alkali and sodium bicarbonate increased by 18.43% and 13.60%, respectively, when compared with untreated fiber. In conclusion, the investigation proved that treatment with the sodium bicarbonate has a significant effect on the physicochemical properties of SPF and the chemical could be an alternative chemical for treating other cellulose fibers.

摘要

糖棕榈纤维（SPF）作为一种极具吸引力的天然纤维增强基质，正受到人们的关注。这主要是由于其与其他已建立的天然纤维相比具有相似的性能。本研究旨在探讨碳酸氢钠作为糖棕榈纤维处理剂的效能，并与已建立的碱处理进行比较。对经处理和未处理的纤维进行了表征，发现经处理的纤维与未经处理的纤维相比，结晶度、热稳定性和表面粗糙度均有所提高。在两种不同处理中，碱处理的糖棕纤维的初始分解温度为255.47℃，碳酸氢钠处理和未处理的糖棕纤维的初始分解温度分别为250.19℃和246.76℃。在这两种情况下，纤维的热稳定性都得到改善。X射线衍射（XRD）分析表明，碱和碳酸氢钠处理的SPF结晶指数比未处理的SPF分别提高了18.43%和13.60%。综上所述，研究证明碳酸氢钠处理对糖棕纤维的理化性能有显著影响，该化学药品可作为处理其他纤维素纤维的替代化学品。

KEYWORDS:

• Alkali
• chemical composition
• chemical treatment
• sodium bicarbonate
• sugar palm fiber
• thermal property

关键词:

• 碱
• 化学成分
• 化学处理
• 碳酸氢钠
• 糖棕纤维
• 热性能

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by University Putra Malaysia (UPM) through Research University Grant Scheme (RUGS 9513500).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Putra Malaysia [RUGS (9513500)].