DEGRADATION OF NONWOVEN FABRICS SUITABLE FOR WET WIPES BURIED IN SOIL

In this research, biodegradation behaviour of nonwoven fabrics suitable for wet wipes having different fibre types such as regenerated cellulose (viscose and Tencel), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and their blends were investigated. Each nonwoven fabric was buried in soil and test samples were controlled in regular periods. Visual appearance was reported and examined by photographs and microscopic views. According to the changes in visual appearance and weight loss, biodegradation was examined in a systematic way. It has been observed that regenerated cellulose nonwoven fabrics and the PET nonwoven fabrics show big difference under the same degradation conditions. PET fibre content delays biodegradation in the soil and degradation behaviour is similar the content of PET fibre in fabric structure. The higher PET, lower degradation, and the higher cellulosic fibre, the higher degradation was determined for nonwoven fabrics suitable for wet wipes.

Propionic Anhydride Modification of Cellulosic Kenaf Fibre Enhancement with Bionanocarbon in Nanobiocomposites

The use of chemical modification of cellulosic fibre is applied in order to increase the hydrophobicity, hence improving the compatibility between the fibre and matrix bonding. In this study, the effect of propionic anhydride modification of kenaf fibre was investigated to determine the role of bionanocarbon from oil palm shell agricultural wastes in the improvement of the functional properties of bionanocomposites. The vinyl esters reinforced with unmodified and propionic anhydride modified kenaf fibres bio nanocomposites were prepared using 0, 1, 3, 5 wt% of bio-nanocarbon. Characterisation of the fabricated bionanocomposite was carried out using FESEM, TEM, FT-IR and TGA to investigate the morphological analysis, surface properties, functional and thermal analyses, respectively. Mechanical performance of bionanocomposites was evaluated according to standard methods. The chemical modification of cellulosic fibre with the incorporation of bionanocarbon in the matrix exhibited high enhancement of the tensile, flexural, and impact strengths, for approximately 63.91%, 49.61% and 54.82%, respectively. The morphological, structural and functional analyses revealed that better compatibility of the modified fibre–matrix interaction was achieved at 3% bionanocarbon loading, which indicated improved properties of the bionanocomposite. The nanocomposites exhibited high degradation temperature which signified good thermal stability properties. The improved properties of the bionanocomposite were attributed to the effect of the surface modification and bionanocarbon enhancement of the fibre–matrix networks.

New method for determining the degree of fibrillation of regenerated cellulose fibres

In this study, we propose a convenient method for testing the fibrillation tendency of man-made cellulosic fibres (MMCFs) and investigate the possibility to apply a commercial crosslinker for Tencel fibres on the ionic liquid-based regenerated cellulosic fibre (Ioncell fibre). The fibrillation tendency of various MMCFs including viscose, Modal, Tencel and Ioncell fibres were examined through wet abrasion by using ball bearing and blending methods. The fibrillation tests using a laboratory blender was found to be a superior method over the ball bearing method in terms of time and energy saving. The fibrillation tendency of the fibres highly depended on their cellulose molecular orientation and the treatment intensity (time, temperature and alkalinity) in the blender. This fibrillation method was also applied to discover the effect of the crosslinking on the fibrillation tendency of the fibres. The Ioncell fibre proved to be suitable for crosslinking treatment to reduce fibrillation using 1,3,5-triacryloyl-hexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (TAHT)—a commercial Tencel crosslinker.