Abstract
‘Isora’ is a bast fibre separated from the bark of Helicteres isora plant by retting process. Chemical constituents, morphology and physical properties of these fibres have been studied. Density and microscopic methods are used to determine the cross-sectional area and diameter of fibre bundles. Surface modification by alkali and silane treatment was tried. Tensile properties of the treated and untreated fibres were determined by density method. Average tensile strength of the fibre decreased and density increased to some extent on treatment with alkali and silane. The thermal characteristics, crystallinty index, reactivity, and surface morphology of the untreated and treated fibres have been studied by TGA, DSC, DTA, WAXRD, FTIR and SEM. SEM studies showed that fibre surface becomes rough on modification. Thermal analysis showed that chemical modification improves the thermal stability of the fibre. The strength of the fibre was theoretically calculated.