New Lignocellulosic Aristida adscensionis Fibers as Novel Reinforcement for Composite Materials: Extraction, Characterization and Weibull Distribution Analysis

Abstract

In this research, the Aristida adscensionis fibers (AAFs) were taken out from the plants and its fundamental properties anlayzed for the first time. The AAFs were characterized and compared with other natural fibers by the use of physico-chemical analysis and various characterization techniques such as FT-IR, XRD, NMR, TGA, SEM and AFM. Chemical analysis showed that A. adscensionis fibers have a high cellulose content of 70.78% whereas the contents of lignin and wax are equal to 8.91% and 2.26%, respectively. The FT-IR, XRD and NMR analysis confirmed that AAFs are rich in cellulose content with CI and CS equal to 58.9% and 11.5 nm, respectively. Pycnometer analysis allowed to estimate a density of 790 kg/m3. The TGA revealed that these fibers are thermally stable up to 250 °C while SEM and AFM analysis evidenced that the fiber surface was rough. The fiber diameter and tensile properties was analysed by Weibull distribution. The characterization results and Weibull distribution analysis for the A. adscensionis fibers are an agreement with other natural fibers reported in literature. So this new lignocellulosic material is suitable as reinforcing phase in composites for potential engineering semi-structural applications like roofing sheets, bricks, door panels, furniture panels, interior paneling, storage tanks, pipelines, etc.