Effects of Alkaline Treatment Time on Plant Fibre Quality

Alkaline treatment is commonly used to improve the properties of plant fibres intended for composite applications. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of the duration and concentration of the alkaline treatment on the mechanical properties (tensile strength and elastic modulus) of mechanically extracted fibres from agave sisalana. The plant fibres were immersed in sodium hydroxide solutions at concentrations of 5% and 10% for 0, 2, 3 and 5 hours. The results of the tensile tests showed that the 10% alkaline treatment for 5 hours gave the highest tensile strength and modulus of elasticity, while the percentage of deformation decreased significantly. The increased strength and modulus of elasticity mean that composites can be applied more widely to structures with higher load-bearing capacity.