Seiko Jose

An Overview on Production, Properties, and Value Addition of Pineapple Leaf Fibers (PALF)

ABSTRACT Pine apple leaf fibre (PALF) is an agro residue, extracted by scratching of pineapple leaves followed by retting. PALF has desirable properties of a textile fibre like high cellulose content, good tensile strength and fibre length. Research works were carried on development of various products by blending with fibers with or without physical/ chemical modifications. However the utilization of PALF in the conventional apparel and technical textiles is not fully explored. This is the right time to review the existing extraction methods, retting processes and chemical modifications for PALF, in order to identify the suitable research approaches for its effective utilization.

Study on Reuse of Coconut Fiber Chemical Retting Bath. Part 1: Retting Efficiency

ABSTRACT Coconut husk is commonly retted in back water to extract coconut fiber. This retting takes about 10 months to complete and also pollutes the environment. A work on captive chemical retting of coconut fiber has carried out with NaOH, Na2S, and Na2CO3. It is found that the residual retting liquor contains unreacted alkali, which is unutilized and might cause environmental issues, if not processed before disposal. An attempt has been made to estimate the residual alkali present in the residual waste liquor in order to reuse the retting bath by suitable addition of alkali. The physical parameters of the retted fibers were evaluated against raw fiber using standard methods. It is concluded that residual retting liquor could be used for further retting process by the addition of suitable quantity of chemicals.

Development of Apparels from Silk Waste and Pineapple Leaf Fiber

ABSTRACT The degummed mulberry silk waste and eri silk waste were blended with degummed and bleached pineapple leaf fibers (PALF) at fiber stage in different proportions, and spun into yarn in a jute spinning system. The 90-tex blended yarn thus developed was analyzed for different physico-mechanical properties. Properties of fabric developed in a traditional handloom using 2/40-s cotton as warp and blended yarn as weft were also analyzed. The quality parameters, viz., tensile property, crease recovery, fabric cover, stiffness, drape, and thickness of the developed fabric, met essential apparel requirements. A comparative subjective evaluation of the fabric quality, viz., aesthetic appearance, luster, and texture, was made with the help of a group of people from different age, educational, and occupational background to examine its marketability; all respondents felt that appearance of PALF with silk waste was excellent. Texture and luster were found to be from medium to moderate. About 95% of respondents felt that fabric was crispy.

Potentiality of Indian pineapple leaf fiber for apparels

ABSTRACT The use of textile-grade fiber extracted from the Indian pineapple leaf is an unexplored area. Pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) is fine, soft, and moderately strong and is much acceptable for fashion garment. An attempt has been made to extract and soften Indian PALF from the pineapple leaves by decortication and subsequent water retting. Decorticated cum retted fiber has shown better physicomechanical and surface appearance properties than decorticated fiber. Fine yarn (38 tex) was spun in a suitable spinning system, and the property performance was found to be suitable to make eco-sustainable novelty fabric. Fabric was developed by using cotton as warp yarn and PALF-based yarn as weft in a handloom. The developed fabric shows very good physical and mechanical properties, desired for apparels. This inferred that Indian PALF may be successfully used to make eco-niche apparel quality fabric as well as novelty textiles.

Study on Reuse of Coconut Fiber Chemical Retting Bath. Part II---Recovery and Characterization of Lignin

ABSTRACT Study aimed at recovery of lignin from the reused residual liquor of chemical retting bath of coconut fiber caused by partial delignification to make it soft. The lignin of 8.9% was obtained after recovery (maintaining pH 2.0 for 1 h at ambient temperature) and further purification. Extracted lignin is characterized through FTIR, TGA and particle size analysis. FTIR showed absence of polysaccharides in purified lignin. TGA indicates presence of higher methyl-aryl ether groups than aromatic groups in lignin of coconut fibre. Analysis reveals about 91% of particles in the rage of 1–500 µm, which shows its good dispersiblity in fluid. Recovery of lignin associated with two benefits i.e., diversified use of extracted pure lignin and reduction of organic load of the waste liquor to make it suitable for discharge.

Hibiscus sabdariffa (Roselle): A potential source of bast fiber

ABSTRACT Roselle is a bast fiber, and its utilization as a textile fiber for the development of textile products is still scanty. A work has been attempted to develop yarn from Roselle. Fibers were extracted from Roselle bark by decortication and degummed in alkaline medium. The degumming process was optimized based on fiber yield and strength. The degummed fibers were then bleached by the hydrogen peroxide bleaching process. Degummed and bleached fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis. Degumming and bleaching results in enhancement of density, fineness, and brightness of Roselle fiber. A marginal decrease in tenacity of the Roselle fiber was observed after bleaching; however, the strength was not affected by degumming. Fibers were converted into fine yarn in the jute spinning system. The yarn properties inferred that the yarn possessed essential properties for the preparation of apparels and home furnishing.

Sustainable Production Processes in Textile Dyeing

Value addition for textiles is an important process and it is required for all products including yarn, fabric, garment, fashion apparel, floor covering, and the majority of technical textiles. Value addition may be either an additive or subtractive process. In the subtractive process part of the fiber components may be removed by some physical or chemical process because textile fibers have natural as well as added impurities during production. In the additive process, either color or functional chemicals may be added to improve aesthetic as well as functional properties. For each textile processing, the processor used enormous amounts of chemicals and water in order to attain the desired result. After processing the residual processed chemicals and waters are treated with effluent treatment and discharged into the mainstream. The amount of residual unfixed dyes, metal compounds, formaldehyde-based dye-fixing agents, hydrocarbon-based softeners, and all types of dye-bath auxiliaries as well as their degradation nature against the environment are the deciding factors for its sustainability. Technologies have been developed for the past five decades starting from fiber to finished product in order to reduce the effluent load, energy, processing cost, and manpower as well as increase the process efficiency and reproducibility. There are many factors influencing the overall efficiency or value addition of a textile product, which play an important role in its sustainability. This chapter deals with the basic theory of dyeing processes, factors influencing their performance, potential pollutants, sustainable technologies developed thus far, and future perspectives in dyeing.