A Facile Degumming Method of Kenaf Fibers Using Deep Eutectic Solution

An eco-friendly and effective degumming method needed to be developed for producing kenaf bast fibers. This study devised a novel deep eutectic solvent (DES) method coupled with microwave and alkaline-ultrasonic treatment. The novel method could effectively remove the gummy matters, providing a smooth and clean fiber surface. The properties of the fibers were assessed including chemical compositions, surface structure, crystallinity index (66.68%) and thermal properties. The residual gum content (9.419%), fiber fineness (4.125tex), breaking tenacity (13.650 cn/tex) of the refined dry fibers produced by the novel treatment were comparable with the fibers produced by the traditional two-step alkali boiling method. Besides, the novel method could reduce the usage of chemical, water and time by 48.9%, by 66.7% and 66.8%, respectively. These results revealed that the novel combined DES pretreatment is a practical and feasible pretreatment method for kenaf bast degumming, demonstrating its facile, green energy-saving and fast properties in the degumming process. ?? ?????????????????????????. ????????????????(DES)?????????????????. ????????????????,?????????. ??????????????????(66.68%)?????????. ??????????????(9.419%)?????(4.125tex)?????(13.650cn/tex)?????????????. ????,??????????48.66%,??7.6%. ????,??DES????????????????????????,????????????????????.

Automated summary

An eco-friendly and effective method for degumming kenaf bast fibers was developed and evaluated in this study. The results showed that the method could effectively remove gummy matters and produce fibers with comparable properties to those obtained by traditional methods. Furthermore, the method could significantly reduce the usage of chemicals, water, and time.