Residues from Cajanus cajan Plant Provide Natural Cellulose Fibers Similar to Flax

ABSTRACT

With an annual production of about 5 million tons, Cajanus cajan (pigeon pea) generates at least 20 to 25 million tons of stems as residues. These residues are generally disposed of as waste leading to environmental pollution and loss of a valuable raw material. In this report, we demonstrate that the stems of pigeon pea could be used as a source for developing natural cellulose fibers. Fibers were extracted from the stems using only water and also with water followed by alkali treatment. Fibers with high strength (984 MPa) and elongation (3.4%) similar to the properties of flax fibers were obtained. The physical and morphological properties of the fibers were similar to the common fibers. The fibers had good thermal stability and showed potential to be useful for textile, composite, and other applications. Such applications will provide a considerably high value addition to the stems of C. cajan and also be a renewable and sustainable source for fibers.

摘要

木豆(Cajanus cajan) 的年产量约为500万吨, 可产生至少2000万至2500万吨的残茎. 这些残留物通常作为废物处理, 导致环境污染和有价值的原材料损失. 在本报告中, 我们证明了木豆的茎可以用作开发天然纤维素纤维的来源. 从茎中提取纤维时, 只需用水, 也需用水, 然后进行碱处理. 获得了强度(984mpa) 和伸长率 (3.4%) 与亚麻纤维相近的纤维. 纤维的物理和形态特性与普通纤维相似. 该纤维具有良好的热稳定性, 有望用于纺织、复合材料和其他应用. 这些应用将为卡贾努斯·卡贾努斯的茎提供相当高的附加值, 作为可再生和可持续的纤维来源.

KEYWORDS:

• Natural cellulose fibers
• legume stems
• Cajanus cajan
• fiber extraction

关键词:

• 天然纤维素纤维
• 豆科植物茎
• 纤维提取

Acknowledgments

Vijaykumar Guna and Narendra Reddy thank Centre for Incubation Innovation Research and Consultancy for their support to complete this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).