Surface Modification of Coir Fibers for Extended Hydrophobicity and Antimicrobial Property for Possible Geotextile Application

Abstract

Experimental investigations are conducted to study the effectiveness of protective coating with cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) on coir. CNSL solution has been applied on suitably pretreated coir yarns and coating concentrations are optimized to reduce moisture absorption and microbial growth. Two common cellulose and lignin degrading fungi (Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus stolonifer) have been taken as test organisms. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are carried out to measure fungal growth on untreated and treated fibers. The study shows that treated fibers inhibit the development of fugal growth on fiber surface by 95%. The reduced moisture absorption and improved hydrophobicity of the treated yarns are also reported. Increase in tensile strength up to 17% is noticed. The better properties achieved are explained on the basis of selection of the coating methodology and also the interfacial features of the coatings with the coir fiber. The results indicate the possibility of future application of such treated fibers in geotextiles having better performance compared to the untreated counterparts.

摘要

本文对椰壳纤维上腰果壳油（CNSL）保护涂层的有效性进行实验研究。在研究中，对经过适当预处理的椰壳纤维纱应用了CNSL溶液，且涂层浓度被优化以减少水分吸收和微生物生长。两种常见的纤维素和木质素降解真菌（黑曲霉和匍枝根霉）被选为测试生物。实验中进行了定性和定量分析以测量未经处理和处理过的纤维上的真菌生长。研究表明，处理过的纤维对纤维表面真菌生长发展的抑制高达95％。本文也报告了经过处理的纱线的吸湿性降低、疏水性得到改进，抗拉强度提高17％。根据解释，性能提高是因为涂敷方法的选择以及椰壳纤维涂层界面的特性。结果表明，在土工织物领域，处理过的纤维比未经处理的纤维具有更好的性能，未来的用途更广。

Keywords:

• Biodegradation
• CNSL
• coir
• natural antimicrobial agents
• natural fibers
• surface treatment

​​关键词:

• 生物降解
• 椰壳纤维
• 天然抗菌剂
• 天然纤维
• 表面处理

Acknowledgments

Certain experimental and microscope facilities provided by CSIR-NIIST Trivandrum, India are greatly acknowledged. The first author acknowledges Department of Technical Education, Government of Kerala, India for providing opportunity to do research under QIP scheme.

Funding

The authors are thankful to Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Kerala, India for providing financial assistance for the research work.

Additional information

Funding

The authors are thankful to Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, Kerala, India for providing financial assistance for the research work.