Characterization of banana, sugarcane bagasse and sponge gourd fibers of Brazil

Published Date
November 2009, Vol.30(3):407–415, doi:10.1016/j.indcrop.2009.07.013

Author 

J.L. Guimarães ^a

E. Frollini ^b

C.G. da Silva ^b

F. Wypych ^c

K.G. Satyanarayana ^c,,

• aDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, UFPR, Curitiba, Brazil
• bSão Carlos Institute of Chemistry (IQSC), University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
• cDepartment of Chemistry, UFPR, Centro Politécnico, PO Box 19081, Jardim das Américas, 81531-980 Curitiba, PR, Brazil

Received 26 May 2009. Revised 18 July 2009. Accepted 24 July 2009. Available online 22 August 2009.

Abstract

In recent times, increasing attention has been paid to the use of renewable resources particularly of plant origin keeping in view the ecological concerns, renewability and many governments passing laws for the use of such materials. On the other hand, despite abundant availability of lignocellulosic materials in Brazil, very few attempts have been made about their utilization, probably due to lack of sufficient structure/property data. Systematic studies to know their properties and morphology may bridge this gap while leading to value addition to these natural materials. Chemical composition, X-ray powder diffraction, and morphological studies and thermal behavior aspects in respect of banana, sugarcane bagasse sponge gourd fibers of Brazilian origin are presented. Chemical compositions of the three fibers are found to be different than those reported earlier. X-ray diffraction patterns of these three fibers exhibit mainly cellulose type I structure with the crystallinity indices of 39%, 48% and 50% respectively for these fibers. Morphological studies of the fibers revealed different sizes and arrangement of cells. Thermal stability of all the fibers is found to be around 200 °C. Decomposition of both cellulose and hemicelluloses in the fibers takes place at 300 °C and above, while the degradation of fibers takes place above 400 °C. These data may help finding new uses for these fibers.

Keywords

Lignocellulosic fibers

Chemical composition

Thermal behavior

Crystallinity

Morphology

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