Jo urn al of Sc ien ti fic & In dustri al Resea rch
Vo l. 62, August 2003, pp 802-808
Evaluation of Properties of Fibres Extracted from Certain Weeds for
• Use in Paper and Cordage Industries
T Goswami and C N Saikia*
Regio nal Research Labo ratory, Jorh at 785 006, Assam
Received : 20 September2002; accepted : 20 February 2003
Fibre quality and paper mak ing properti es of three potential weed species growi ng abundantly in the fores ts and waste
land areas o f nort h eastern region are stud ied . Mo rphological characteristi cs of the plants and proxi mate chemical analyses
data show their sui tab ili ty as pul pin g ma terial as well as for makin g co rdage. Pu lp with hi gh yields and paper with good
physica l pro pe rt ies can be prod uced from these plants. The fibre materi als are also ca pable o f producing good qua lit y co rd age
with hig h physical st rengt h properties .
Keyword s: Paper making, Cellul osic materi als, Fibres, Weeds, Co rd age in d ustri es
Introduction
The conventi onal paper making cellul os ic
materi a ls like bamboo and wood have almost beco me
scarce now and , therefore, importance has bee n laid
durin g last few decades throughout the world , on the
use of non-conventi ona l ce llul os ic materia ls for
manufac ture of pulp, paper, and oth er ce ll ulose based
products 1-5 • Some potenti a l exot ic fast growing wood
and non-wood pl ants have also been culti vated in
d ifferent parts of the world for use in pulp and paper
indu stri es 6- 10 .
The plant resources of north eastern Indi a are
enormous and uniqu e ow in g to varied topograph y and
wide climati c cond iti ons. Th ere are many wild plant
species in the forests of thi s part of Indi a hav in g
potenti ality for us ing as raw materi a ls for di fferent
indu stri es . There are plenty of wil d weed species
grow ing in forests and many of them decay in the
11
fo rest without any use . Utili zati on of some of the
non-wood plants and weed spec ies for produc in g
paper makin g fibres and partic le board s has a lready
been reported 12• 16 . However, weed spec ies like
A lp inea allughas Rose, Clynogyne dichotoma, and
Hibiscus abelmosch.us have not been studi ed for
poss ibl e use as raw material for paper making and for
such oth er applicati o ns. As these pl ants are
abundantl y avail able in the forests and was te land
areas of N E region, a study was undertaken in the
* Aut hor for correspondence
laboratory for utili zati on of the spec ies fo r making
paper grade pulp and fibres suitabl e for use in co rdage
industry.
Materials and Methods
Materials
For thi s stud y, three plant spec ies viz Alpinea
allughas Rose, Clynogyne dichotoma, and Hibiscus
abelmoschus were selec ted. M atured pl ants of all the
three species were coll ected from a fo rest near Jm·hat
(26.47 °N latitude, 94 . 12 °East long itude and 87 m
above sea leve l), Indi a. The plant mate ri a ls were first
cleaned by was hing under runnin g wate r and then airdried. The sampl es a long with the bark were cut into
2.5 x 1.5 em chips for making pulp.
Methods
Morphological C ha racters
The morpho logical characters li ke he ight and
we ight of th e pl ants were determin ed and are given in
Table I.
Proximate C hemical Analyses
The proximate chemi cal anal yses of the plant
materi als were carri ed out as per T APPI Stand ard
methods 17 • The oven dri ed (OD) chi ps were powdered
in a Wil ey mill and the materi als were made to pass
throu gh 40 BS and retained on 60 BS mes hes . T he
powdered sa mpl es were ana lysed and the results of
proximate chemi cal analyses are g ive n in T able 2 .
803
GOSWAMI & SAIKIA : E VALUATION OF PROPERTIES OF FIBRES
T ab le I -Morp ho logical c haracters of the pl ant s
Plant materi al
Particulars
A. allughas
C. dichotomna
H. abelmoschus
Heig ht of th e plant, e m
270
3 15
150
Stem diam , em
T op
Middle
Botto m
Average
1.54
2.04
3.3 1
2.87
2.8
3.0
3.6
3.5
2.2
2.9
3.7
2.8
Weight of who le plant, gm
441
528
682
Bark co ntent, per cent
By vo lume
By weight
15.2
20.5
Specific grav ity o f ste m/ba rk
0.30
0.28
0.70
T hick ness of th e bark , mm
Moisture co nte nt, pe r cent
0.35
8 1.55
78.0
80.5
T ab le 2 - Proximate chemical ana lyses of the plants
Parti cul ars
Pl ant mate ri al
A. allughas
C. dichotooma
H. abelmoschus
Cold water
Hot water
I per cent. Alk ali
Alco ho l benzene
I 0.4
13.2
39.4
7.3
2.98
6.93
33. 11
3.45
6.5 (9 .20)
I 0. 1 ( 16.1)
18.3 (27 .2)
5.7 (8 8)
Li gn in , per cent
13.5
20.20
15 .6 ( 17.2)
Pentosan, per cent
15.3
16.26
12.2 ( 15.3)
Cellul ose. per cent
(C ross & Bevan)
38.5
37.5
43.6 (47.2)
As h con te nt . per ce nt
5.1
5.7
( 1.9)
Alph a-cel lulose , pe r cent
78
66
60.3 (56.7)
Solubi lity in , per cent
The data within th e bracket are for bark po rti o n
Pulping and Bleaching
For preparation of paper grade pulp, kraft
pulpin g was carri ed out in a electrica ll y heated rotary
stainl ess stee l reactor hav ing te mperature contro l
dev ice. The 00 chips ( 1000 g) were charged into th e
di geste r alon g wi th required amou nt of c he mi ca l
so luti on at a materia l to liqu or (M : L) ratio I : 4. The
cooki ng was done by va ry in g th e quantiti es of active
alkali (NaOH + Na 2S) from I 0-16 pe r cent on OD raw
mate ri als, keepin g sulphidity fixed a t 20 pe r cent. The
c hips were cooked by vary in g temperature from 130165 °C for 3 h inc luding the time to raise the
tempe rature to max imum . Afte r cook in g the pulp was
was hed th oroughl y with deioni sed water and the
unbl eac hed pulp thu s obtai ned was a nalysed for
ph ys ical strength properti es.
804
J SC I IND RES VOL 62 AUGUST 2003
Fibre Morphology
Th e morph o log ica l properti es of the fibre, e.g.,
le ngth (L), d ia m (D), wa ll thi c kness (W ), and lume n
dia m (d ) of we ll di ges ted pulp fi bre were de te rmin ed
by us in g a Dok uva l ph oto mi c roscope (JEOL , Japan)
unde r d iffe re nt magnifi ca ti o ns a nd the ave rage va lues
of 1went y observati o ns fo r two d iffe re nt mi croscop ic
areas were recorded.
St:anning Electron Mil:roscopy
Fibres in th e pulp sampl es were sepa rated and
mounted o n spec imen ho lde rs w ith th e he lp of
e lectroconduc ti ve tape. The sa mp les were coated w ith
gol d in a n ion sputte r coate r (JFC WO, J EOL , Japan)
in low vac uum w ith a layer 150-200 11m thi c k. Th e
obse rva ti on was made in a JEOL, JSM. 35 M - 35 CF
e lec tro n mi crosco pe at a n acce le ratnng potenti a l of 15
kV. Mi c rogra ph s were ta ke n at thi s pote nti a l.
Paper Sheet M aking and Testin g
T he un bleac hed and bl eac hed pulps we re beaten
in a la bo rato ry va ll ey bea te r to 45 "SR (Sc hopper
Re ig la r) freeness at 1.45 per ce nt consiste ncy and
2
sta nda rd ha nd s heets of 60 ± I g-- we re made from
the pulp s in a Briti s h stand a rd labo ratory hand sheet
ma kin g mac hin e, fo ll owed by press in g and d ry in g.
T he d ri ed pape r s heets we re cond iti oned a t 65 ± 2 per
cent re lati ve humidity at 27 °C fo r 2 h a nd th e n tes ted
fo r vari ous ph ys ica l stre ngth pro pe rties as per T appi
17
standa rd me th ods .
Extraction of Fibres for Cordage
T he ste m porti o ns of the pl ant A lpinea allughas
R ose and Clynogyn.e dichotoma, w hil e th e ba rk
portio n of Hibiscus abelmoschus were take n fo r
ex trac ti on of f ibres fo r use as cordage . Fo r ex trac ti o n
of fibres th e stem porti o n of A. allughas and C.
dichotoma were cut into 60 e m le ngth . Th e c ut
po rt io ns of the ste m we re splitted lo ngitudin a lly w ith
the he lp of a kni fe. The cut strips were made into
bund les. Th e barks of H. ahelmoschus were separated
fro m th e ste m manuall y a nd c ut int o 60 e m length .
T he ba rk s were a lso th en made into bundl es.
T he bundles of A. allughas strips and the barks
of H. abe/moschus were di gested unde r pressure free
conditi o n in a SS vesse l of 60 x 60 x 45 e m size. The
bundl es were pl aced hor izo nta ll y in the vesse l and
requi red qu a ntity of wa te r was added to ma int a in M :L
rati o of I :6, at vary in g c he mi ca l concentrati o ns fro m
12- 16 pe r cent fo r 2-3 h at bo ilin g te mpe ra tu re. Th e
strip bundles of C. dichotoma were a lso d igested
unde r pres~ urc in an e lec tri ca ll y heated rotary di geste r
at 165 "C w ith 16 pe r cent c he mi ca l co ncentrati o n fo 1
2. 5 h.
A fter cookin g th e fibres were was hed
th o roughl y with ta p wate r to make th e m free from
c he mi ca ls. Th e fibres we re th en dri ed unde r sunli g ht.
Th e dri ed fibres were ke pt in room te m perature for
few days and a softe ning treatmen t was g iven to make
th e m s uitabl e for twine mak ing. T he softe ned fibres
were th e n c hopped to a le ngth of 30 e m to fac ilitate
feeding into cardin g mac hine in a c on ventio na l jute
tw ine makin g unit. The fibres were the n converted to
slive rs and fin a ll y two and three pl y tw in es were
made in a tw in e makin g mac hin e . Th e phys ica l
stre ngth prope rti es of th e tw in es we re tes ted.
Results and Discussion
Th e mo rph o log ical c ha racte rs of the pl ant
materi a ls, as g iven in Tabl e I , s howed th at th oug h the
pl ants we re of diffe re nt he ig hts, the re was no t so
mu c h vari at io n in di amete rs of ste m of th e pla nts. The
spec ifi c grav ity of the green ste m of the pl ants vari ed
from 0 .28-0 .35. The g ree n we ights and mo isture
conte nts of the pl ant were more o r less same.
Th e average ce llul ose co nte nt was fo und to be
max imum fo r H. abelmoschus (47.2 pe r cent)
fo ll owed by A. allughas (38.5 pe r ce nt) and C.
dichotoma (37.5 pe r ce nt) (T ab le 2) Li g nin co nte nt s
were fo und to be 13 .5, 15.6, and 20.29 pe r ce nt , w hil e
the pentosan conte nts were 15.3, 12.2, 16.3 per cent ,
res pecti ve ly fo r A. allughas, H. abelmoschus and C.
dichotoma. The a -ce llul ose was recorded max imu m
(78 pe r cent) fo r A. allughas, fo ll owed by C.
dichotoma (66 pe r cent) and H. abelmosch us (63 pe r
ce nt). The c he mi ca l constitutent s of the pl a nts
indi ca te the ir suit ability as pul pab le ce llul os ic
mate ri a ls. T he prope rti es were ide nti ca l w ith so me
othe r no n-wood pl ant s 18 ' 19
Th e yie ld a nd re lated ph ys ica l prope rti es of th e
pulps obta in ed f1'o m di ffe re nt plan t mate ri a ls are
g iven in Tab le 3. Th e unbl eac hed and bl eac hed pul p
yie lds were 46.3 and 40.7 pe r ce nt fo r A. allughas
fo ll owed by H. abelmoschus (48.7 and 43.6 per ce nt)
and C. dichotoma (42 .6 and 39.9 pe r cent ). Kappa
number of unbl eac hed pulp of A. allughas was 22,
w hil e fo r H. abelmoschus was 29 . T he bri g htness of
b leac hed pulps were a lmost s imil ar and were w ithin
the range 76-80 pe r cent. T he viscos iti es of the
b leac hed pulp from a ll th e three p lant spec ies were
w ithin 38-42 C p .
805
GOSWAMI & SAIKIA: EVALUATION OF PROPERTIES OF FIBRES
The morphological characteristics of the
bleached pulp fibres are shown in Tabl e 4. The
average fibre len gths were 1.25, 1.20 and 1.21 mm ,
whi le widths were 22, 20 and 23 mm , respectively ,
for bleached fibres of A. allughas, C. dichotoma
and H. abelmoschus. So also the average cell
wall thickn ess of C. dichoroma was 4.90 ~-tm ,
followed by 3.75 ~-tm for A. allughas and
3.53 ~-tm for H. abelmoschus. Lumen diameter
was found to be minimum for H. abelmoschus ( 12.8
~-tm) and maximum ( 17 ~-tm) for C. dichotoma . The
Runkle ratio ranged from 0.47- 0.55 and th e
slenderness rati o from 52.6- 60. These properties
of pu lp fibres were comparable to other quality
Table 3 - Physical properties of pulp fibre
Plant material
Particulars
A. a/lug has
C. dichoroma
H. ahelmoschus
Yi eld of unbleached
pulp , per cent
46. 3
42 .6
48.7
Yi e ld of bleac hed
pulp, per cent
40.7
39.7
4 3.6
Kappa Number
22
27
29
Brightness of bleached
Pulp , per cent
80
78
76
Vi scosity at 27"C , Cp
35
42
38
Degree of po lymerization
370
280
380
Table 4 -
Morphological propert ies of pulp fibres
Plant material
Properti es
C. diclwroma
A. allut;has
II
H. ahelmoschus
II
II
Fibre lengt h L, mm
2.80-0.42
1.25
2. 10-0.27
1.20
3.25-0.63
1.21
Fibre width D, mm
22- 17
22
21-17
20
22-25
23
Cell wa ll thicknes s, W , 11m
3-5.20
3.75
3.25-5
4.90
2.85-4.75
3.52
6.8-1 6.5
15 .2
7 .80- 17.5
17
5.8-14 .3
12.8
Lumen diameter d, 11m
Runkel ratio , 2 W/d
0.49
0.47
0.55
Slenderness ratio , LID
56 .8
60
52.6
Flexibility coefficient , (d/D x I 00)
69.1
85
55 .7
Ratio of tw ice cell wall thickness
to fibre di ameter
0. 34
0 .40
0.3 1
Shape factor
(D2-d2)/( D2+d 2)
0.35
0.16
0 .53
I= Range
II = Average value
806
J SCI IND RES VOL 62 AUGUST 2003
fibres used for producing paper of hi gh physical
. ?0
strength properti es- .
Figure
I (a-c) shows scanning electron
mi crographs of thin secti on of the stem of A. allughas,
C. dichotoma and H. abelmoschus respectively. The
uniform ce ll with lignifi ed middle lamella were
visibl e in the case of A. allughas, while the thick cell
wall with hi ghly li gnifi ed cells were present in ste m
of C. dichotoma. H. abelmoschus co nsisted of
uniform cell with less li gnin in the middl e lame ll a.
Occasional cracks visible in so me porti ons of C.
dich.otoma were not present in A. allugh.as and H.
abelmosch.us.
The scanning e lectron micrographs of the pulp
fibres of A. allughas, C. dichotoma and H.
abelmoschus are shown in Figure 2 (d-f). The fibres
(a)
(d)
(h)
(c)
(f )
Fi gure 1- Scannin g electron micrograph s of thin secti on of th e
stems of (a ) A. allughas, (b) C. dichotoma (c) H. abelmoschus
Fi gure 2 - Scannin g elec tron mi crograp hs of tibre s of
(d) A. alluglws, (e) C. Dichotoma, (I) H. abel!uoschus
807
GOSWAMI & SAIKIA : EVALUATIO N OF PROPERTI ES OF FIBR ES
of A. allughas were fl at with uneven surface (Figure
2d). There were some occasional pores visibl e in the
surface of the fibres. Irregul arl y arranged fibril s were
also seen. Some fibres of C. dichotoma were so lid
with the uniform fibril s arranged hori zontall y on the
surface without any pore or crac k, while some were
fo und to be flat with pores. A lso irregul arl y arranged
fibrils were visible on the surface of the fibres
(Figure 2e). The fibres obtained from H. abelmoschus
were hollow with occasiona l pores and cracks, with
no visible fibril s on the surface (Figure 2f).
The phys ica l strength properti es of paper sheets
made out of unbl eac hed and bleached pulps prepared
under identi ca l conditi ons are given in Table 5. The
2
bulk dens ities of unbl eac hed pulp sheets (60 g/m )
were 1.45-1 .55, w hil e that of bleac hed paper sheets
were 1.37-1.43. Burst indi ces for unbleac hed and
bleac hed paper sheets made out of A. allughas, C.
dichotoma and H. abelmoschus we re 4 .8 1 and 3.80
2
Kpam 2/g, 3.95 and 3.35 Kpam /g and , 4 .25 and 3.90
Kpam 2/g, respec ti ve ly . Simil arly , tear indi ces for
unbleached paper sheets vari ed from I 0.3-1 1.5
mNm 2/g and th at fo r bleac hed paper sheets from 6.4-7
mNm 2/g. Tensil e indi ces were found out to be 64.2
and 39.8, 58.7 and 47.6, and 65.3 and 46.2 N/mg,
respecti ve ly, for paper sheets made of unbleac hed and
bleac hed pulps obtained from A. allughas, C.
dichotoma, and H. abelmoschus. The foldin g
endurance fo r un bleac hed paper sheets varied from
350-450, whil e for bleac hed paper sheet, it vari ed
from 120-175 . These ph ys ica l strength properti es
were simil ar to th ose obtained for paper sheets made
2 1 22
fro m pulps of other non-wood pl ants · .
The phys ica l strength properti es of twin es made
out of the fibres ex tracted are also recorded in
T abl e 6. The breakin g loads (N) of twines of di am
2.40-2.90 mm were within 160-245 and th at of twines
with diameter 3 .45-3.68 mm were between 200-300.
Th e strength properti es of twines were comparabl e to
2
th ose of twines made from jute and banana f ibres ' .
Conclusion
Th e paper sheets made fro m pulps of all the
three spec ies were found to possess hi gh ph ys ica l
strength properti es . So also, twines made out of the
fibres of A. allughas, C. dichotoma and H.
abelmoschus produced tw ines with adequ ate strength
properti es. Therefore, th ese pl ant materi als will be
Tabl e 6 - Physica l strength propert ies of twi nes
Pl ant materi al
Properti es
Weight
per Iinear
metre, g
Diam
mm
Breaking load .
N
A. allughas
2 ply
3 ply
2.27
3.70
2.98
3.5 1
245
300
2.20
3.20
2.40
3.45
190
280
2.68
3.52
2.53
3.68
160
200
2.89
3
176.70
2.67
2.86
179.3
C.dichotoma
2 pl y
3 ply
H. abelmosc hus
2 ply
3 pl y
Banana fibre22
Table 5 - Physical stre ngth properties of paper sheets made fro m unbl eached (U b) and bleac hed (Bl ) pul ps
Bul k densi ty
cc/g
Burst index
kPam 2/g
Tear index
mN m2/g
Tensi le index
N/mg
Fo lding end urance
(double fold )
A. allu ghas
Ub
Bl
1.45
1.37
4.8 1
3.80
10.3
6.4
64.2
39.8
450+
150+
C.dichotoma
Ub
Bl
1.55
1.43
3.95
3.35
11 .5
7.8
58.7
47 .6
340+
12<t
H. abelmoschtts
Ub
81
1.50
1.4 1
4.25
3.90
10.8
7.5
65.3
46.2
350+
175+
Plan t materi al
808
J SCI IND RES VOL 62 AUGUST 2003
suitable for use as alternative source of raw materials
for paper and cordage industries.
II
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22
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