Effect of Alkaline Treatment on Tensile Properties of Raffia Palm Fibre

Abstract

The mechanical properties of raffia palm fibres treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution have been investigated in this study. Tensile properties (Tensile strength, Young modulus, elongation at break, tensile energy, tensile strain and yield strength) of the raffia palm fibres were tested under direct tension in a Universal Testing Machine at the crosshead speed of 5.00 mm/min. The raffia fibres were treated with 5 percent NaOH solution under ambient temperature for one hour. From the analysis of variance, alkaline treatment had significant (P ≤ 0.05) effect on tensile strength, elongation at break, tensile energy and yield strength of the raffia fibre. The results indicated that the tensile properties of treated raffia fibre were better than raw raffia fibre. Based on the results, the tensile strength and Young modulus increased from 67.73 to 107.07 MPa and 1.261 to 1.406 GPa after the alkali treatment. The fibre elongation at break and tensile energy decreased from 6.38 to 5.25 mm and 0.103 to 0.033 Nm respectively. The results of this study are expected to be useful in the production of composite boards and textile industries.