INVESTIGATION INTO THE TEXTILE
APPLICATIONS OF FIBRES EXTRACTED
FROM PANDANUS UTILIS
Mrs. A. Vaidya Soocheta
a.soocheta@uom.ac.mu
Textile Technology Department
University of Mauritius
Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Rosunee (UoM)
Prof. Dr. M. D. Teli (UICT, Mumbai)
The ‘Pandanus utilis’ plant, commonly
known as ‘Vacoas’ in Mauritius,
demonstrates a potential as a
tangible textile fibre
The fibre presents endless possibilities
for textile applications, all of which
are just waiting to be harnessed
The common screwpine (Pandanus utilis)
is, despite its name, a tropical tree and
not a pine (Common screwpine)
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Binomial name: Pandanus utilis
Scientific Classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class:
Liliopsida
Order: Pandanales
Family: Pandanaceae
Genus: Pandanus
Species: P. utilis
Common name: Pandano, Vacoas
Place of origin: Madagascar, Mauritius
FLOWERS
DRY
LEAVES
VACOAS
• The leaves are linear and spiny, with a spiral
arrangement on the tree. Care must be taken
when handling the leaves because of their
sharp spines
• Sun Exposure:
Full sun
• Growth Habits:
Branched evergreen shrub
to 20 feet tall (6 m)
• Watering Needs: Regular to abundant
water
• Propagation:
Seeds
AIM
Characterise and evaluate the textile
potential of Pandanus utilis as a new
source for textile fibres
Currently the
leaves of this plant
find limited
application for
making baskets,
wall hanging and
other decorative
items
LEAVES SLICED
DRIED IN SUN
BUNDLE OF DRIED LEAVES
METHODOLOGY
Retting
De-gumming of Decorticated Fibre Bundles
Scouring
Bleaching
Dissolution in Sulphuric Acid
Retting
Mechanical,
chemical and
enzymatic retting
treatments were
carried out to
optimise the
extraction process
of the fibres
Retting- Extract fibres
Retting process optimised to separate and remove noncellulosic material like lignin, pectin
• Water retting
• Chemical treatment:
Sodium hydroxide and Sodium carbonate
Hydrogen peroxide and Sodium silicate
• Effect of Sodium Hydroxide
• Treatment with NaOH and Na2CO3
• Treatment with Oxalic Acid
• Treatment with Alkaline Pectinase
• Treatment with Acidic Pectinase
De-gumming of Decorticated Fibre
Bundles
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NaOH and Na2CO3
Oxalic Acid
Alkaline Pectinase
Acidic Pectinase
Enzyme Mixture – Xylanase and Cellulase
Scouring
• Degummed decorticated fibres led to
pronounced loss of strength without much
separation of fibres
• Untreated decorticated fibres were used for
further scouring with varying concentrations of
NaOH and non ionic detergent
Bleaching
• Sodium Hypochlorite Bleaching
• Hydrogen Peroxide Bleaching
RESULTS
The leaves of young un-branched trees are
long and supple, whereas the leaves of older,
branched trees are rigid
Leaves are made of fibre bundles in the form
of phloem tissue bundle
Scanning Electron
Microscope longitudinal
and cross-section
observations of their
‘composite’ structure
Cross-section (10X)
Cross-section (5X)
Retting
• Water retting: wet strength greater than the
dry strength. As the duration of water retting
increases, the strength of the strength of fibre
is reduced
• Chemical treatment:
NaOH treatment offer cleaner fibre bundles,
where the covering sheath of the fibre bundles
was removed more efficiently
NaOH
H2O2
• Effect of Sodium Hydroxide
Load VS NaOH Concentration
12
10
8
Load (kG)
6
Load
4
2
0
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
NaOH concentration (g/l)
Concentration of alkali increases, the fibre bundles
more removal of non-fibrous material.
However the strength, weight loss, appearance do not
conform to the observation.
Attributed to maturity and location of bundles in
leaves
• Treatment with NaOH and Na2CO3
3g/l concentration of NaOH and Na2CO3 at 80o C
offered good results.
At 120o C with 7g/l NaOH and 3g/l Na2CO3 showed
improved results
• Treatment with Oxalic Acid
• Treatment with Alkaline Pectinase
• Treatment with Acidic Pectinase
The samples treated did not show any noticeable
separation of fibres from leaves.
To get a combined effect of various parameters,
Box-Behnken method was used for optimizations
De-gumming of Decorticated Fibre
Bundles
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NaOH and Na2CO3
Oxalic Acid
Alkaline Pectinase
Acidic Pectinase
Enzyme Mixture – Xylanase and Cellulase
Degummed decorticated fibres did not lead
without much separation of fibres
Scouring
• 3% NaOH concentration was chosen for scouring as
further bleaching would lead to strength reduction
accompanied with improvement in appearance.
• Not practical to reduce the strength of the fibre
bundles to a large extent at the scouring stage.
Bleaching
Bleaching
Strength
Whiteness
H2O2
4
4
NaOCl
3
3/4
agent
Samples was assessed against the grey scale
5, 4-5, 4, 3-4, 3, 2-3, 2, 1-2, 1.
5 = no visual change
1 = large visual change
FTIR 8400S Analysis
• Mechanically removed fibre bundle from dry leaves
and fibre bundles obtained after retting, scouring
and bleaching were subjected to FTIR analysis to
determine the functional groups present.
Functional Groups
Peak
Wave no. cm-1
Functional group
1
1050
C=C
2
3200-3000
Aromatic
3
3600-3300
-OH =>3400 strong and
broad
FTIR analysis of fibre bundles obtained from mechanical
and chemical retting, conclude that the scouring and
bleaching do not lead to any substantial change
enough to be seen in the FTIR analysis.
Non Rated2
Natural Fibre6
100
%T
95
90
85
80
75
70
4000
3600
Natural Fibre
3200
2800
2400
2000
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
1/cm
CONCLUSION
Study of the structure
and physical
properties such as
morphological
characterisation, their
mechanical behaviour
in tensile tests,
restates its
competence as a
textile fibre
The research findings demonstrated
from the investigations of the fibres
extracted from leaves show positive
results
Pandanus utilis (Vacoa) fibres posses’
great potential to be used as fibre.
Due to its impressive strength it can be
found useful for technical textile
application.
Proper utilisation of this indigenously
available natural resource will open-up
new avenues for this natural asset
REFRENCES
• Bhattacharya S.D., Shah J. N., (2004), Enzymatic treatment of flax
fabric, Textile Research Jr., 74/7, p622-628.
• EarleT., 1947. Retting Method [Online] Available at:
<http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2407227.pdf> [Accessed 2
December 2008].
• Evans J. D., Akin D.E. , Morrison W. H., Himmelsbach D. S.,
Mcalister D. D., Foulk J. A., (2003) Modifying Dew-Retted Flax
Fibers and Yarns with a Secondary Enzymatic Treatment, Textile
Research Journal, Vol. 73, No. 10, 901-906
• Jarvis M.C., (1988), A Survey of Pectic Content of Non-Lignified
Monocot Cell walls, Plant Physiol., 88, p309-314.
• Linda B., Kimmel L.B., Boylston E. K., (2001), Non-traditionally
Retted Flax for Dry cotton Blend Spinning, Textile research Jr., 71/5,
375-380.
REFRENCES
• Kyung Hun Song (2006), Chemical and Biological Retting of Kenaf
Fibres, Textile Research Journal, Vol. 76, No. 10, p751-756.
• Patra A.K., (2003), Enzymes For Wet-Processing Pretreatments,
Textile Asia, 34/9, p546-573.
• Zhang J., Johansson G., (2003), Effects of acidic media Preincubation on flax enzyme retting efficiency, Textile Research Jr.,
73/3, p263-267.
Remembering the immortal support of
special people in my life
Shailesh Kharkar
and
Mukesh Soocheta
Mrs. Anagha Vaidya Soocheta
a.soocheta@uom.ac.mu