This paper focuses on the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of corn husk fibers treated with different concentrations of NaOH (0.5%, 1%, 2%, 5%, and 8%) for 2 h. The results show that treatment with NaOH removed the hemicellulose and lignin in the fibers and decreased the moisture content. Consequently, the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of the treated fibers were greatly improved. Scanning electron microscopy analysis indicated the presence of rough surfaces and a number of lumens inside the fiber bundles. The results suggest that the treated corn husk fibers exhibited better mechanical properties than fiberglass.

Characterization of the Chemical, Physical, and Mechanical Properties of NaOH-treated Natural Cellulosic Fibers from Corn Husks

The effect of water immersion and fibre content on properties of corn husk fibres reinforced thermoset polyester composite

Natural fibres are a gift from nature that we still underutilise. They can be classified into several groups, and bast natural fibre reinforcement in polymer composites has the most promising performance, among others. However, numerous factors have reported influences on mechanical properties of the fibre-reinforced composite, including natural fibre retting processes. In this review, bast fibre retting process and the effect of enzymatic retting on the fibre and fibre-reinforced polymer composites have been discussed and reviewed for the latest research studies. All retting methods except chemical and mechanical retting processes are involving secretion of enzymes by bacteria or fungi under controlled (enzymatic retting) or random conditions (water and dew retting). Besides, enzymatic retting is claimed to have more environmentally friendly wastewater products, shorter retting period, and controllable fibre biochemical components under mild incubation conditions. This review comprehensively assesses the enzymatic retting process for producing high-quality bast fibre and will become a reference for future development on bast fibre-reinforced polymer composites.

/pdf/a-comprehensive-review-on-bast-fibre-retting-process-for-3d17o2ipyq.pdf

A Comprehensive Review on Bast Fibre Retting Process for Optimal Performance in Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites

Corn is a high starchy cereal crop with the highest production and provides over 85% of the starch produced worldwide. Various by-products, differentiated by technological process features such as steep liquor, corn germ, corn bran, gluten, are created largely during corn starch processing. They are inexpensive, nutrient-rich, and vary widely in chemical composition such as proteins, oils, carbohydrates, and minerals. In an increasingly resource-constrained modern world, the utilization approach of these by-products for non-starch industrial processing is attractive widely considering both nutritive value and economic aspects. In fact, at present, applications of these by-products can often be found in feed, fermentation, nutrient extraction and other industries. For example, protein-rich corn gluten can be used as a good animal feed, and corn germ can be used as a raw material for the high-quality edible oil industry. Undoubtedly, increasing utilization means that these by-products will no longer be treated as waste but will be transformed into high value-added products. In this work, the separation process and chemical composition of several main by-products of the corn starch industry is briefly described, and the application in many industrial fields of these by-products over the last ten years are discussed in particular. This review attempts to summarize all aspects of the application and research of these by-products. For the by-products of the corn starch industry, the most promising way is to be utilized in high value and used to produce high value-added products. According to the characteristics of their chemical composition, they have a better application prospect and research significance in the industries directly related to human beings, such as medicine, green food and health care products. In fact, in recent years, some researchers have recognized this and carried out the research. It is clear from these studies that the main issues to be faced now and in the future are how to produce efficiently while maintaining the quality of the product and using it effectively. The retrospective discussions also provide some ideas for other grain and oilseed crops to be fully utilized.

Comprehensive utilization of corn starch processing by-products: A review

This work analyses the effect of Laccase and Xylanase enzyme treatment on chemical and mechanical properties of banana fiber. Properties such as chemical composition, density, tensile strength, and color were analyzed. The removal of lignin increased with increase in enzymes concentration. Lignin removal was observed to be higher for Laccase treatment. The hemicellulose removal was higher for Xylanase treatment and the results were confirmed by FTIR spectrum. It is evident that cellulose%, density and tensile strength increased up to 15% enzyme treatment concentration and then started declining at 20% enzyme concentration in the case of both enzymes, whereas the moisture regain percentage of the fiber decreased with increase in enzyme concentration. The effects of enzymatic treatments are clearly visible in the SEM images.

Effect of Laccase and Xylanase Enzyme Treatment on Chemical and Mechanical Properties of Banana Fiber

In this study, okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) bast fibers and corn (Zea mays L.) husk fibers were extracted via different degumming methods and subjected to different chemical treatments including a...

Effects of chemical treatments and degumming methods on physical and mechanical properties of okra bast and corn husk fibers

Corn is the most commonly produced crop in the world producing immense agricultural residues, including corn husks. In search for handling corn husks as a fiber source, the quality of fibers extracted from different parts of corn husks by water retting is investigated. The effects of the location of the leaves in the husks and the part of the leaves where the fibers were extracted from on the mechanical, physical, and chemical characteristics of the fibers have been investigated. The coarseness of extracted fibers decreases from outer to the inner leaves in the husk and from the lower to the upper parts of the leaves. Breaking tenacity, breaking force, and elongation at break values of the fibers increase from the upper to the lower parts of the husk leaves. The fibers from the lower parts of the leaves showed greater hemicellulose, pectin, moisture content, and water absorption capacity compared to fibers obtained from the upper part of the corn husk leaves. With superior mechanical properties an...

Physical and Chemical Properties of Water-Retted Fibers Extracted from Different Locations in Corn Husks

Fibres have been extracted from corn husks in undried and dried forms by an alkalization treatment followed by enzymatic process at different concentrations of xylanase enzyme. The effects of drying process and xylanase enzyme concentration on the mechanical and textile properties of corn husk fibres have been investigated. The linear density of extracted fibres decreases with the increase in enzyme concentration and drying. Increasing enzyme concentration increases the breaking tenacity and initial modulus up to a point and then decreases them with any further increase in concentration. Fibres obtained from dried husks show dull colour as compared to those obtained from undried husks. No negative effect of drying process is observed on the performance of corn husk fibres. The highest tensile performance and fineness values are obtained from fibres of dried husks, treated with 0.4% Pentopan® mono BG enzyme, with a breaking tenacity of 9.44 cN/tex, initial modulus value of 282 cN/tex, and a fineness of 21.6 tex.

http://nopr.niscair.res.in/bitstream/123456789/27370/1/IJFTR%2039%281%29%2060-64.pdf

Effect of xylanase enzyme on mechanical properties of fibres extracted from undried and dried corn husks

Natural Polysaccharides as Pharmaceutical Excipients

Okra bahmia (Abelmoschus esculentus) plant is considered as one of the abundant sources of natural fibers. Huge amount of okra plant stem is discarded on the field annually after collecting vegetable, without proper utilization. However, this biomass from the okra plant is a renewable, biodegradable, cost efficient and low-density source for production of bast fibers, and other industrial cost-efficient eco-friendly materials. The research on okra bast fiber has started in 2007. After that, the fiber extraction process, composition of fiber, morphology and performance properties of fiber, fiber modification techniques, and some important applications of the fiber etc. have been established. It was found that the okra bast fiber contains high cellulose content, excellent mechanical strength and stiffness, and good thermal resistance which are comparable to some traditional bast fibers like jute, hemp and ramie. Some okra bast fiber reinforced biocomposites were successfully fabricated with different matrices including biodegradable corn starch, Poly(lactic acid), P(vinyl alcohol), urea formaldehyde resin etc. via application of various processing methods. These studies revealed that the okra bast fiber biocomposites exhibited better mechanical properties, water resistance and thermal properties at optimized processing conditions. Therefore, by suitably optimizing the fiber, matrix, processing conditions, the future expectations of the okra bast fibers can be dramatically enhanced and its usage in composite field can be widened.

Kenan Yilmaz

Papers

Effects of chemical treatments and degumming methods on physical and mechanical properties of okra bast and corn husk fibers

Physical and Chemical Properties of Water-Retted Fibers Extracted from Different Locations in Corn Husks

Effect of xylanase enzyme on mechanical properties of fibres extracted from undried and dried corn husks

Natural Polysaccharides as Pharmaceutical Excipients

Okra Fibers: Potential Material for Green Biocomposites