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Composite Interfaces
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Characterization of new cellulose

sansevieria ehrenbergii fibers for
polymer composites
a

T.P. Sathishkumar , P. Navaneethakrishnan , S. Shankar & R.

Rajasekar

Department of Mechanical Engineering , Kongu Engineering

College , Erode , Tamilnadu , India
b

Department of Mechatronics Engineering , Kongu Engineering

College , Erode , Tamilnadu , India
Published online: 17 Jul 2013.

To cite this article: Composite Interfaces (2013): Characterization of new cellulose

sansevieria ehrenbergii fibers for polymer composites, Composite Interfaces, DOI:
10.1080/15685543.2013.816652
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15685543.2013.816652

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Composite Interfaces, 2013

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15685543.2013.816652

Characterization of new cellulose sansevieria ehrenbergii bers for

polymer composites
T.P. Sathishkumara*, P. Navaneethakrishnana, S. Shankarb and R. Rajasekara
a
b

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamilnadu, India;

Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Erode, Tamilnadu, India

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(Received 26 April 2013; accepted 15 June 2013)

Natural cellulose bers were newly identied from the sources of sansevieria ehrenbergii plant. These bers were extracted using the mechanical decortication process.
The hierarchical cell structure of the plant and bers was analyzed using scanning
electron microscope, optical microscope, Fourier transforms infrared, and X-ray diffraction. The density and diameter of the bers were found to be approximately
0.887 g/cm3 and 10250 m, respectively. The various chemical compositions were
analyzed and compared with other natural bers. The thermal stability of the ber
was examined through thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermogravimetric
analysis (DTG). The maximum peak temperature was obtained at 333.02 C in DTG
curve. The raw bers exhibited a tensile strength of 50585 MPa, an elongation at
break of 2.821.7%, a Youngs modulus of 2.57.5 GPa, and a corrected
compliances Youngs modulus of 2.57.8 GPa.
Keywords: sansevieria ehrenbergii; chemical composition; infrared spectroscopy;
X-ray diffraction; thermal stability

1. Introduction
Over the past two decades, polymer-based materials reinforced with various natural
bers have been established everywhere from academic and industrial point of view.
Environmental consciousness, legislation, and energy consumption have inspired academics and industrial researchers working in the area of cellulose bers and ber-reinforced composite. More than 1000 species of cellulose plants are being available in
bers forms and few of them are investigated to prepare the reinforced composite. The
natural ber composites have attractive features likes low cost, light-in weight, moderated strength, high specic modulus, moderate mechanical properties, easy to handle,
and lack of health hazards compared to synthetics ber composite. Structure of the ber
is framed with natural chemicals such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin, wax,
pentosen, and silica. The cellulose ber-reinforced composites have been signicantly
used for industrial components, construction material, automobile parts, and home appliances. The traditionally available natural bers have been used for making ropes, bed
sheet, covers, clothes, etc. These cellulose bers, such as petiole bark, rachis, rachilla,
spatha, root, palmyrah, talipot,[1,2] sisal,[35] sansevieria cylindrica,[6] sea grass,[7]
coconut tree leaf sheath,[8] bamboo,[9] coir and banana,[5,9] curaua,[9,10] vakka, date,
*Corresponding author. Email: tpsathish@kongu.ac.in
2013 Taylor & Francis

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T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

palm,[11] okra,[12] elephant grass,[13] pineapple leaf ber,[2,14] abaca leaf ber, sansevieria rifasciata, sisal leaf, cocount husk, kenaf bast, ramie bast,[14] rice husk and
phormium tenax,[15] kenaf,[15,16] wheat straw,[17] cotton,[18] ax and hemp,[15,18]
jute,[18,19] abaca, bagasse, alfa, piassava, date palm, henequen, isora, oil palm [9,19]
and softwood kraft [20] were extracted using various ber-retting process, and also the
structural morphology of natural plants and bers was analyzed using scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). The chemical compositions, and physical, thermal, and mechanical
properties of natural bers were discussed with Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), Xray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/differential thermogravimetric
(DTG), and tensile testing. These bers have been reinforced with polymer matrix to
prepare the composites using various manufacturing process.
In the present study, the newly identied sansevieria ehrenbergii bers (SEFs) are
extricated from sansevieria ehrenbergii (SE) plant. The physical, chemical, mechanical,
and thermal properties have been investigated through FTIR, XRD, TGA/DTG, and tensile testing. The effects of ber lengths on tensile properties such as strength, modulus,
and elongation at break, corrected compliances Youngs modulus, and Weibull modulus
have been investigated.
2.

Natural ber materials

Natural plant of SE commercially called as snake grass plant belongs to the family of
dracaenaceae. It is a owering plant which grows in Northeastern Africa, Tanzania,
Saudi Africa, and South India and it was discovered by Schweinf Ex Baker in Olduvai
Gorge. It has been traditionally used for various purposes such as leaf for antiseptic and
natural bandage, bers for rope-making, baskets, roofs, and clothes, and it is used as a
home garden at Vijayamangalam (Figure 1).
2.1.

Structure of SE leaves and its ber

SE is known as Blue sansevieria, Sword sansevieria, Oldupai or East African Wild

Sisal. It is a catus and succulent plant, and a native of Olduvai Gorge in Northern Tanzania. The structure of this plant consists of four to six leaves in dark green color and

Figure 1.

SE natural plant.

Composite Interfaces

approximately 100200 brils in a bundle. It grows in a fan shape with long stiff leaves
wrapped nearly into a sword pattern with sharp spine ending. These leaves are about
5001500 mm long and 2040 mm wide, and they grow in tight clusters in closer proximity amongst themselves. A leaf consists of a sandwich natural composite containing
approximately 8% ber, 1% cuticle, 12% dry matter, and 81% water.

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2.2.

Extraction process for SEFs

The natural plant bers are extracted by adopting various retting process like mechanical retting (by hammering or decorticator), chemical retting (boiling with chemicals),
steam/vapor retting, and water/microbial retting process.[4,8,13] The SEFs are extracted
from the SE leaves and they yield strong white elastic long bers which have been used
for many purposes. In the process of ber extraction, leaves of SE are plucked manually and the nodes and culms of the leaves are trimmed by knife. The sand particles are
removed by water.
The mechanical decorticator consists of two rollers. The gap between these rollers
of 5 mm has been maintained for ber extraction. The leaves are fed in between the
rotating rollers. The bers are found to be adhering to the SE stem. The external layers
of bers such as gums and skin of stems are removed by continuous feeding of leaves
in between the rotating rollers. The bers separated from the stem are washed thoroughly with water and dried under the sun light for 48 h [21] to remove water content
from the bers surface. These bers are denoted as SEFs. The extracted bers length is
around 5001500 mm and it can be chopped into various lengths for experimentation.
This extraction is a very simple process; it requires less manpower and energy consumption; and is very economical.
2.3. Physical analysis of SE plant and its ber
The aim of this section is to analyze the cross-section of SE leaves and bers, and their
microstructural characteristics and density of the ber. SEM and optical microscope
(OP) are used to analyze the cross-section of the SE leaves and bers. The image of
primary and secondary wall of the leaf and bers is taken for calculating the dimension.
The cross-sectional area of the bers is approximately round in shape and is used to
calculate the strength of the ber. The average cross-section diameter is calculated from
the 1000 mm ber length which is cut into 10 sections of 100 mm each.
The density of the SEFs is obtained using pycnometer for solids with toluene
(known as Toulon) as the immersion liquid.[13] Initially, the bers are dried for 48 h in
air tight nonhygroscopic desiccator containing calcium chloride. Before measuring the
density of the bers, they are initially impregnated in toluene for 2 h to remove the
microbubbles present in the bers. The density of the toluene (qT is 0.8669 g/cm3 at
20 C. The bers are chopped into length of 10 mm and kept into the pycnometer. The
following formula is used to calculate the SEF density (qSEFs .[11]

qSEFs


m2  m1
q
m3  m1 m4  m2 T

where m1 is the mass of the empty pycnometer (kg), m2 is the mass of the pycnometer
lled with chopped bers (kg), m3 is the mass of the pycnometer lled with toluene (kg),
and m4 is the mass of the pycnometer lled with chopped bers and toluene solution (kg).

4
2.4.

T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

Chemical analysis of the SEFs

2.4.1. Cellulose content

The cellulose content of plant ber has been measured by Kurshner and Hoffers
method.[6,22] The bundle of bers was washed in distilled water for removing the
impurities present on the bers surface and dried in an oven at 80 C for 24 h. The samples of crushed bers (150 mg) were hydrolyzed with a mixture of ethanol and 95%
nitric acid. This bundle of bers was taken from the mixture and kept in oven for drying at 60 C until constant weight. The cellulose content with a corresponding insoluble
fraction of samples was weighted. The hemicellulose was measured according to standard NFT 12-008.

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2.4.2.

Lignin content

The insoluble solution of the lignin content of the SEFs was determined based on
Klason lignin of APPITA P11s-78 method.[22,23] The samples of crushed bers
(300 mg) were hydrolyzed with 72% of sulfuric acid in an ultrasonic bath for 1 h at a
controlled temperature of 30 C. The treated sample was mixed with a solvent solution
of methylene chloride (CH2Cl2) and placed in autoclave at 125 C for one hour and
dried. Then, sample was cooled and the lignin was ltered through retentate. The
percentage of lignin content was obtained by following expression:
IL

WLignin
 100
WFiber

where IL is the insoluble lignin content (%), WLignin is the oven dry weight of the insoluble lignin or Klason lignin (g), and WFiber is the oven weight of the ber (g).
2.4.3. Wax content
The SEFs wax content was determined by Conrad method with Soxhlet extraction.[6]
The received SEFs were preconditioned before wax extraction took place. The bundle
of bers was washed in distilled water for removing the impurities in the bers surface
and dried in an oven at 80 C for 24 h. Then, the chopped ber of 10 mm was kept in
ethanol solution for 6 h. The solution-wetted ber was transferred to separator funnel.
After that, the chloroform was added for wax extraction from the substance such as
waxes, fats, resins, photosterols and nonvolatile hydrocarbons, low-molecular-weight
carbohydrates, salts, and other water-soluble substance. The puried water was added
for separating the chloroform and other substances. Then, the chloroform was evaporated by heating the funnel and leaving the wax. The percentage of wax content was
measured by following expression:



WFiber  WWax
%WAX
 100
WFiber

where %WAX is the percentage of wax content, WFiber is the oven weight of the ber
(g), and WWax is the weight of the wax extracted from the raw ber.

Composite Interfaces

2.4.4. Ash content

Initial weight of the sample bers was measured for quantifying the ash content. The
bers were kept inside the colorimeter at 250 C. The result of heating was obtained as
ber ash. The percentage of ash content was measured by weighting the sample.
2.4.5.

Percentage of moisture content

The moisture content of the ber was obtained by normal weight loss method. Twenty
grams of bers were weighted and kept in the oven to dry at 100 C. During drying
process, the weight of the bers bundle was measured until the constant weight was
obtained. The constant weight was obtained at 100 C for 4 h 30 min. The following
expression was used to calculate the percentage of moisture content in the bers.[22]

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%M


WBefore drying  WAfter drying
 100
WBefore drying

where %M is the percentage of moisture content, WBefore drying is the weight of the ber
before drying (g), and WAfter drying is the weight of the ber after drying (g).
2.5.

FTIR test

FTIR spectroscopy analysis of the SEFs was recorded using a Perkin Elmer Spectrum
RXI FTIR spectrometer. The spectrum was identied with scanning rate of 30 scans per
minutes. The total wave number region was recorded from 500 to 4000 cm1 at room
temperature of 30 C and relative humidity of 65%. The bundle of bers was chopped
approximately 23 mm and ground into powder form using mortar and pounder. The
powder was mixed with KBr matrix and pelletized using pressurization. The pellet was
used to record the spectra.

2.6.

XRD analysis

The wide angle XRD spectra of the SEFs was recorded with a Rigaku X-ray diffractometer Dmax 2500. An X-ray tube produced monochromatic Cu K radiation. This
system had a rotating anode generator with angle powder goniometer. It was operated
at 40 kV and 150 mA. The reection mode at a scan speed of 4 C/min with high intensity spectrum of SEF was identied and it estimated the crystallinity indices. All samples were scanned in 2h angle of 550.

2.7.

Thermogravimetric analysis

The thermograms of the steam SEFs were recorded on a Perkin Elmer TGA-7 instrument in nitrogen atmosphere at a heating rate of 10 C/min in the temperature range of
50200 C. About 10 mg of the sample ber was heated from 30 to 200 C at a rate of
5 C/min, followed by an isothermal setup to 200 C for 20 min. The ow rate of nitrogen gas was 30 mL/min. During this test, the weight loss in terms of temperature was
recorded as graphs. This test was obtained at controlled atmospheric condition with
65% RH and 30 C.

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2.8.

T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

Single-ber tensile test

The SEFs were chopped into various lengths for testing the tensile properties. According to the ASTM D3822-01,[6] the tensile test of single bers was performed by universal tensile test machine of INSTRON 5500R in South Indian Textile Research
Association (SITRA), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. Twenty samples of single ber
were tested for each ber gage length such as 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm. In testing,
the individual ber was clamped with a pneumatic gripper, the cross-head speed of ber
testing was 0.1 mm/min and the strain rates were on the order of 0.60.15/s. A 1.0 kN
load cell was used to measure the load vs. displacement curve (tensile strain) of ber at
various gage lengths and dates were recorded as graph. The average value of the tensile
strength, strain, modulus, and elongation at break was obtained. All tests were conducted at ambient temperature of 21 C and humidity of about 65%. Finally, the
recorded dates were taken for analysis to calculate the tensile properties of ber.
The testing compliance of the loading and gripping systems is calculated by obtaining the force vs. displacement behavior of the ber at various gage lengths.[4,24] The
total cross-head displacement (t) during ber testing is expressed using the following
expression:
 
dt
1

LC
F
EA

where F is the applied force, L is the gage length (GL), E is the Youngs modulus of
the ber, A is the cross-sectional area of the ber, and c is the machine compliance. A
plot of t/F vs. GL yields a straight line of slope 1/(EA) and intercept in y axis, which
is the compliance (c) of the load train.
2.9.

SEM and OP

The bers cross-section in longitudinal and transverse directions was obtained using
SEM and OP. The image of transfer section of SE leaf was taken by a SEM model of
JEOL JSM-6390. The following specications were used for scanning the image: (a)
resolution (3.0 nm (Acc V 30 kV, WD 8 mm, and SEI)), (b) magnication (5X (WD
48 mm or less)), and (c) electron gun (accelerating voltage: 0.530 kV and lament:
pre-centered tungsten hairpin lament). The cross-area and diameters were obtained by
these images.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Macrostructural analyses of SEF leaf and its bers
Figure 2 shows that the transverse section of SE leaf consists soft and hard tissues, and
the bers are arranged in the soft tissue of the plant (Figure 2(A) and (B)). Fibers are
grown from base of the plant which is classied as structural and arch ber. The structural bers provide strength and stiffness for the SE leaf and are found in the periphery
of the leaf (Figure 2(A)). The cross-section of the structural bers is found in semielongated circular shape. The arch bers are usually found in the middle of the leaf
(Figure 2(B)). The structure bers present in the middle of the plant are of higher diameter and also found more in numbers. The structure bers are nearer to green layer of
the plant (Figure 2(C)). The diameter of the bers is small and they are found less in

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Composite Interfaces

Figure 2. SEM image of cross-section of SE leaf and ber: (A) and (B) middle of the SE plant
at transfer section; (C) and (D) image of near to green layer; and (E) and (F) the longitudinal
cross-section of ber.

numbers. The structural bers are very important because they never split during
the extraction process. The skin (green layer) of the plant does not have ber
(Figure 2(D)).
3.2. Physical properties of ber
Some literature reports assumed the ber are in circular cross-section. The SEFs have a
semi-elongated circular shape, the OP is used to measure the diameter of the ber (10
samples) at four points with equal spacing through a 100 mm of 1000 mm-long bers.
The ber diameter is almost 20250 m. But, the image analysis from an SEM

T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

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Figure 3.

The optical image of the longitudinal section of SEFs.

micrograph is used to measure the area of ber in precise method. The area of the ber
has measure at four points with equal spacing through a 40 mm SEFs which resulted in
values of 0.012, 0.016, 0.018, and 0.0215 mm2 respectively. Therefore, measuring the
area of tensile-tested ber at the fractured end resulted in more accurate determination
of the average area. For example, the area of the fractured end was 0.011, 0.0141,
0.017, and 0.020 mm2 respectively.
Figure 3 shows the longitudinal section of SEFs. The cross-sections of bers
are measured by OP along the length of the ber at various locations. The ber
cross-sections varied with varying ber length. The images of the ber are
postprocessor to Image J software for determining the ber diameters (20240 m).
The density of various natural bers is given in Table 1. The density may vary with
various bers which are due to various climatic conditions, plant growth rate, and plant
tissue. The density of SEF is 0.887 g/cm3 as measured. The SEF has less density compared to sisal, ax, oil palm, hemp, jute, sea grass, agave ber, etc. and more density
than petiole bark, elephant grass, abaca leaf, elephant grass, etc. The weight of the composites can be determined by the ber density. The low density ber has been reinforced with matrix, which leads to less weight composite. The SEF is a low density
ber. SEF-reinforced polymer composites can be used for light-weight applications.
This low density is in the construction of thermal and acoustic insulation using panels
reinforced with SEFs.
3.3.

Analysis of chemical composition of ber

The chemical composition of the ber inuences its properties. The cellulose content
has an important inuence on the mechanical properties of the natural ber such as tensile strength, modulus, and elongation at break. The various chemical compositions of
various natural bers are listed in Table 2. The SEFs contain 80% cellulose, which is
2.5, 7.5, 12, 12.7, 18.8, 29, and 53.8% greater than sisal, hemp, jute, ax, oil palm,
kenaf and coir bers, which is 3.8, 11.11% less than banana and cotton which is equal
to sansevieria cylindrica and pineapple leaf bers.
The SEFs also contain 11.25% of hemicellulose, 7.8% of lignin, 0.45% of wax, and
10.55% of moisture. The hemicellulose of SEFs is less compared to all other ber. The
lignin content inuences the ber structure, properties, and morphology. It is less than

Composite Interfaces
Table 1.

Physical and tensile properties of raw SEF and various natural ber.

Fiber name

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Petiole bark [1,2]

Spatha [1,2]
Vakka [11]
Elephant grass [13]
Abaca leaf ber
[14]
Sansevieria
ehrenbergii
Sansevieria
rifasciata [14]
Bamboo [9]
Sansevieria
cylindrica [6]
Date [11]
Palmyrah [1,2]
Palm [11]
Coconut or coir [8]
Agave [24]
Henequen [9,19]
Bagasse [20]
kenaf bast [14]
Pineapple leaf
[2,14]
Banana [5,9]
Curaua [9,10]
Sisal [3,4]
Hemp [15,18]
Jute [18]
Flax [15,18]
Sea grass [7]
Oil palm [9,19]

Density
(g/cm3)

Diameter
(m)

Gage
length
(mm)

Tensile
strength
(MPa)

Tensile
modulus
(GPa)

Elongation
(%)

0.69
0.69
0.81
0.817
0.83

250650
150400
175230
70400
114130

100
50
10

185.52
75.66
549
185
418486

15.09
3.14
15.85
7.40
1213.8

2.1
6
3.46
2.5

0.887

20250

1050

50585

1.57.67

2.821.7

0.89

8393

10

526598

13.515.3

0.91
0.915

240330
230280

100
1040

503
585676

0.350.91
0.211.2

1.40
1114

0.99
1.09
1.03
1.15
1.20
1.20
1.25
1.31
1.32

155250
2080
400490
100450
126344

200400
6571
5362

100
43
100
100

10
10

309
180215
377
500

430570
290
427519
609700

11.32
7.720
2.75
2.5

11.116.3
11
23.127.1
23.730.3

2.73
715
13.71
20

3.75.9

0.81.6

1.35
1.40
1.45
1.48
1.31.5
1.41.5
1.50
1.55

60250
170
50300

40350

150
10
50

60

600
158729
530640
550900
393773
3451500
453692
248

17.85

9.422
70
1030
27.680
3.13.7
3.2

3.36
5
37
24
1.51.8
0.23.2
1326.6
25

kenaf, jute, oil palm, pineapple leaf bers, and some other bers, and also greater than
ax, sea grass, sansevieria cylindrica, banana, agave, and some other bers. The wax
content in raw ber affects the interfacial bond between the ber and the matrix during
composition preparation. However, SEFs contain less wax content than kenaf, jute,
hemp, phormium tenax, nettle, and oil palm bers, and it is greater than agave and sansevieria cylindrica ber. Therefore, to improve the interfacial bonding between the SEFs
and resin, chemical treatment of the ber has to be done in order to remove the wax
and moisture content.
3.4. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
Figure 4 shows the FTIR spectrum of wave number 1500400 cm1 of raw SEF. The
FTIR spectrum of SEF shows absorption bands of various chemical groups of lignocellulose ber components such as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. The various principal
components are alkenes, phenolic hydroxyl group, aromatic groups, -glucosi linkages,
and various functional groups containing oxygen (ester, ketone and alcohol).[25]

10
Table 2.

T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

Chemical compositions of raw SEF and various natural bers.

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Fiber name
Sansevieria
ehrenbergii
Kenaf [14]
Jute [18]
Hemp [15,18]
Phormium tenax [15]
Flax [15,18]
Agave [24]
Bamboo [9]
Sea grass [7]
Sisal [3,4]
Sansevieria cylindrica
[6]
Oil palm [9,19]
Henequen [9,19]
Coconut tree leaf
sheath [8]
Piassava [9]
Cotton [18]
Rice husk [15]
Coniferous [22]
coir
Banana [5,9]

Figure 4.

Cellulose
(%)

Lignin
(%)

Hemi
cellulose
(%)

80

7.8

11.25

813
17.922.4
17.922.4
30.1
64.171.9
4.85
30
38
10
10.13

4557
21.5
6171.5 11.813
70.274.4 3.75.7
45.172.0 11.2
64.171.9 2.02.2
68.42
4.85
2643
131
57
5
78
8
79.7
3.8

Pectin Wax
(%) (%)

Moisture
(%)

Ash
(%)

0.45

10.55

0.6

0.6
0.2
0.9
0.7
1.82.3

10

0.8
0.5
0.8
0.7
1.7
0.26

2
0.09

6.212
12.513.7
6.212
10
812
7.69
9.16

11
3.08

25
0.52
0.8

65
60
27

17.5
8
27.7

10.12
28
14

4
0.5

4.7

28.6
82.790
3845
4045
37
83

45

2634
42
5

25.8
3
1220

0.6

7.858.5

11.36
10.71

20

FTIR spectra of raw SEF.

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Composite Interfaces

11

A broad absorption band in between 3600 and 3100 cm1 (attributed to cellulose I) corresponds to the characteristic of OH stretching vibration and hydrogen bond of the
hydroxyl groups.[26] The absorption bands between 3786 and 3457 cm1 belongs to the
stretching vibrations of the phenolic hydroxyl group in the lignin components and hydroxyl group of the glucopyranose unit in the cellulose. The two sharp peaks near at 2945
and 2855 cm1 are the characteristic bands for the CH stretching vibration from CH
and CH2 in cellulose and hemicellulose components. A small absorption peaks at
1636 cm1 belong to C=O stretching vibration of the alpha keto carboxylic acid in lignin
or ester group in hemicellulose. The CH2 symmetric bending band is absorbed at a peak
of 1482 cm1.[24] This represents the hemicellulose xylene, wax, and impurities. The
peaks at 1385 cm1 belong to CO stretching vibration of the acetyl group in lignin and
hemicellulose. The bending vibration CH and CO group of aromatic ring of hemicellulos and lignin shows peaks at 1122 and 1035 cm1 stretched vibration.[6] Also, the glucosi linkages present in cellulose and hemicellulose which is absorbed at 840 cm1
stretching vibration.
3.5.

TGA and DTG

The TGA/DTG vs. temperature curves of the raw SEF thermal process are shown in
Figure 5. The temperatures used for the analysis range from 30 to 500 C. The weight
loss may be associated with dehydration as well as degradation of lignin content in
ber. This process occurs in the temperature range from 50 to 230 C. The temperature
range from 233 to 352 C leads to higher weight loss which decomposes the cellulose.
Almost all cellulose content of the SEF is decomposed at the temperature of 360 C.
Normally, the moisture content of the ber is associated with the thermal stability of

Figure 5.

TGA/DTG curve of raw SEF.

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the ber. The weight loss may be associated with loss of water in the natural ber.
[6,16,24] In DTG curve, the initial peak observed at 60 C for SEF corresponds to the
heat of evaporation of water from the ber. The second peak of the SEF observed at
333 C is due to the thermal depolymerization of hemicellulose and the cleavage of the
glycosidic linkage of cellulose. In DTG curve, the third peak of the SEF observed at
450 C is due to the thermal depolymerization of wax and other substance in the ber.
This peak is associated for calefactive rate. The temperature of SEF in onset degradation and peak degradation is lower compared to coconut leaf sheath,[8] Okra,[12]
Kenaf, [16] and Agave americana.[24] The moisture content of okra, coconut leaf
sheath, and agave americana ber is low compared to SEF. In raw SEF, the molecules
are not closely packed, which leads to more penetration of water in the bers. This ultimately decreases the thermal stability of the ber. The higher value of moisture content
in SEF needs to pre-dry and chemically treat them before making composites.
3.6.

XRD analysis

The X-ray spectrum for raw SEF is shown in Figure 6. This spectrum shows two peaks
which are mostly distinct for a raw ber. These two diffraction peaks indicate that the
SEF is semi-crystalline. The two peaks found at 2h = 14.26 and 2h = 26.3. This can be
attributed to cellulose I and IV, both of which exhibit a monoclinic structure [18=26].
The broadening of the peak at 2h = 14.26 is mostly of noncellulose materials like
hemicellulose and lignin in the ber. The peak at 2h = 26.3 is the content of -cellulose
in the ber.[22] These peaks are attributed to the (1 1 0) and (2 0 0) crystalline planes.
[26] The crystallinity index (CI) is measure of the crystalline cellulose using the following expression:

Figure 6.

XRD analysis of SEF.

Composite Interfaces
CI

H26:3  H14:26
H26:3

13
6

where H26.3 is the height of the peak at 2h = 26.3. H14.26 is the height of the peak at
2h = 26.3 and it denotes the intensity of the amorphous peak in the crystallographic
planes. This calculation yields a CI value of 52.27%. It is higher than the cordia dichotoma fabric [22] of 12.14% and lower than the sansevieria cylindrica of 60%.[6]

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3.7.

Tensile properties of SEFs

A total of 20 bers are randomly chosen from a given bundle and tested for each GL
of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mm. Figure 7 shows the tensile testing machine. The ber
ends are hold between the pneumatic grippers and the load vs. displacement curve is
measured. Figure 8 shows the tensile force vs. displacements curve measured for single
ber with varying GL. The increase in GL of ber leads to more ber displacement.
The 10 mm GL has less displacement and carries higher tensile load. Increasing the GL
decreases the load carrying capability of ber. This is due to increase in the number of
aw in the ber. The ber length exceeding 40 mm does not signicantly change in

Figure 7.

Single-ber tensile testing machine.

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displacement. This may be due to constant size of mean aw in the ber. The Youngs
modulus is calculated in the elastic portion of the stressstrain curve and then corrected
for compliance by measuring the force vs. displacement at various gage lengths using
Equation (5) (Figure 9). These results are shown in Table 3. The GL of ber does not
inuence the modulus of the ber. The variability in the modulus for a given GL is due
to the changeability in the microstructure of SEFs by various climatic conditions and
also due to possible damage that occurred during the mechanical decorticator process.

Figure 8.

Tensile force vs. displacements of various GL of ber.

Figure 9. Displacement/forced of bers vs. gage length (showing a linear relationship with a
slope of 1/(EA)).

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15

A measured vs. corrected stressstrain response of the SEFs is used to quantify the
machine compliance. At a given stress level, the measured machine compliance has
contributed in larger displacements. The displacement/force vs. GL is used to calculate
the machine compliance at two different levels. The slope of the line is also measured
for calculating the modulus of the ber at different GL. The modulus calculated from
the corrected compliance curve is similar to the modulus calculated from the displacement/force vs. GL procedure. The tested ber result of a nonlinear region following the
initial portion of the stress strain curve is observed. This may happen due to a collapse
of the weak primary and secondary cell walls, and delamination between the microber
cells.[4] During the tensile testing of ber, the strain-to-failure rate of the bers
decreased with increasing the gage length of SEFs. This may be related to the size of
the aws, propagation of aws in the entire volume of the ber, and the number of
microcrack due to GL increments.
The tensile strength of the ber does not depend on function of the GL as shown in
Table 3. The Youngs modulus varies between 2.5 and 7.5 GPa and the mean tensile
strength varies between 50 and 585 MPa. The tested parameters inuencing the results
are as follows: precision of the instrumentation, gage length, strain rate, type of grips,
and compliance of the machine. Increase in gage length affects the ductility of the ber.
Strength and modulus will not be affected as the mean aws size controls the strength.
During testing, the crack propagation is initiated as the largest aws determines the ductility. The gage length increases the several aws existed and the linkage between the
aws will be quicker during testing. It is found that the ductility is very low in the
highest gage length of 50 mm. The mechanical behaviors of the SEFs are also dependent on source of plant, climate conditions, growth rate, age, types of processing, and
the ber microstructure.
The SEFs exhibited variability in tensile strength which is quite characteristic of all
natural bers. This changeability can be explained by distribution of defects within the
ber and ber surface. Slight differences in microstructure associated with the different
types of SEFs could also result in some variability. Weibull statistic tool is used to rank
the relative ber strength vs. probability of failure of the bers to obtain a measure of
the variability in ber strength.[4] According to the Weibull analysis, the probability of
survival of a ber at a stress () is given by the following relation:
  m 
r
Pr exp 
ro

where is the ber strength for a given probability of survival, and m is the Weibull
modulus. o is dened as the characteristic strength. The higher the value of m, the
lower the variability in strength. Ranking dened as the characteristic strength of the
ber strengths is performed by using an estimator given by:
Estimator E1 ) Pr 1 

i  0:5
N

Estimator E2 ) Pr 1 

i
N 1

2.27 1.13
3.29 1.79
4.07 2.56
5.55 1.91
6.37 2.15

2.57 1.05
3.58 2.11
5.45 1.19
5.95 1.17
6.56 1.73

15.75 5.93
9.05 2.61
7.53 2.97
6.81 4.42
5.25 2.42

317.65 266.78
343.67 242.99
347.12 230.12
356.28 267.27
368.18 198.58

10
20
30
40
50

60240
55225
40230
30235
35245

Tensile strength Youngs modulus Youngs modulus corrected

(MPa)
(GPa)
for compliance (GPa)
Strain-to-failure (%)

Gage length (mm) Diameter (m)

Table 3. Summary of single-ber tensile properties and Weibull modulus of various estimators of SEF.

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7.28
7.29
7.15
7.14
7.07

7.29
7.31
7.16
7.14
7.08

7.28
7.30
7.15
7.14
7.07

7.32
7.33
7.18
7.17
7.11

Weibull modulus

0.024 0.003
0.028 0.005
0.025 0.003
0.023 0.006
0.019 0.008

Area of the
ber mm2

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T.P. Sathishkumar et al.

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17
i  0:3
N 0:4

10

i  3=8
N 0:25

11

Estimator E3 ) Pr 1 

Estimator E4 ) Pr 1 

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where P()i term is the probability of survival corresponding to the ith strength value
and N is the total number of bers tested (N = 20). Substituting Equations (811) into
Equation (7) yields:
 
r
In InE m In
12
ro
 
Thus, a plot of In InE vs. In rro yields a straight line with slope of m. The Weibull
modulus for the SEF is higher than sisal ber. Decreasing the Weibull modulus increases
the GL of ber. The Weibull modulus obtained from estimators may be varied with small
changes. Silva et al. [4] obtained a Weibull modulus of 4.63.0 for 1040 mm ber
lengths for sisal ber. Figure 10 shows the inuence of GL on the Weibull modulus m
with estimator E2. Increasing the GL of SEFs resulted in a decrease in Weibull modulus.
It can be seen from Figure 8 that the curves have different slope they almost all intercept at the same point (e.g. they have the same mean strength, but little variation).
According to Silva et al. [4], this behavior of different materials has the same mean
strength and different Weibull modulus can be obtained. The mean strength of the all
materials can be controlled by mean defect size in the ber, but the number of defects in
incremental ber length controls the Weibull modulus. Thus, the bers with a lower GL
(10 mm) have less number of defects and the average defect size is same as increasing

Figure 10.

Weibull distribution of the SEFs tensile strength for different gage lengths of E2.

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the ber GL. The defect meant the aw in the ber and ber surface. However, the ber
strength is not affected by the ber GL, but the ductility is affected by GL. This means
that once a crack is formed at the largest aw, how quickly this linkage between aws
occurs determines the ductility of ber. Increasing GL of SEFs leads to a large number
of aws, the linkage between the aws will be quicker which leads lower ductility (as
absorbed in the highest SEF GL of 50 mm).
4. Conclusion
The structure and properties of the SEFs were studied. The SEM analysis showed the
morphology of the plant and bers was arranged in the plant. The diameter of the ber
along longitudinal section was around 25250 m using optical microscopy and
40165 m using SEM. Also, the diameter of the bers of 20240 m was obtained from
transverse section of the bers using optical microscopy. The cross-sectional area of one
these bers was 0.0215 mm2. The physical density of the SE ber was 0.887 g/cm3 which
has been used to prepare light-weight composites materials. The XRD and FTIR analyses
showed that SEFs were semi-crystalline and I cellulose was present in the ber. The tensile strength of the bers is independent of the gage length. The Youngs modulus of SEFs
corrected for machine compliance was approximately 7.8 GPa. The strain-to-failure
decreased from 2.8 to 21.7% when the gage length was increased from 10 to 50 mm. The
Weibull modulus was decreased with respect to different estimator and decreased when
the gage length was increased.
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