The effects of eliminating lignin on physical, mechanical and chemical characteristics of date palm fibers

The lignocelluloses fibers are produced in nature and by various agricultural activities. These materials are used in textile, paper and agricultural industries. The lignin content of these fibers causes browning and brittleness in the products made from them. In industries, the fibers are treated by various chemical treatments to reduce their lignin and hemicellulose content, as these are the main hydrophobic factors. In this research, the date palm fibers were treated using 1) sodium hydroxide and 2) sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide. The physical, mechanical and chemical properties of the treated fibers were compared with untreated fibers. The results indicated that the color of the treated fibers were lighter than the untreated fibers. The static friction of the two groups of treated fibers reduced by 29 and 60%, respectively. The diameters of the treated fibers were also reduced by about 22%. The mean ultimate tensile strengths of the treated fibers were 75.1 and 91.2 MPa. The chemical and FTIR analysis of the fibers indicated a significant reduction in the hemicellulose and lignin content of the treated fibers. The TGA test on the fibers showed the treated fibers had higher temperatures both for starting and end of degradation.