The overall goal of the study was to evaluate solar baking against conventional retting as
decortication methods of Agave americana fibre in terms of textile properties.
The study focused mainly on:
⢠Identification of the most cost-effective, efficient and eco-friendly methods of partial
degradation of Agave americana leaves to release the textile fibre.
⢠Evaluating the physical structure of Agave americana fibre decorticated by solar baking
and conventional retting.
⢠Evaluating the essential textile properties and some secondary textile properties of
Agave americana fibre fabric to predict its possible end uses in textiles.
Preliminary comparison of ten different leaf partial degradation methods, suggested the
feasibility of investigation of solar baking as a partial degradative method for fibre
extraction. Conventional retting was chosen to be the control method. The solar baking
process was found successful, energy saving, more eco-friendly and faster than
conventional retting of the Agave americana leaves.
Fibre decortication was entirely done by hand after the leaves were partially degraded.
After hand decortication the fibres were then knotted, twined and woven into fabric. Long
beautiful fibre with natural look was obtained from Agave americana leaves. Agave
americana fibre in its natural condition is coarse, harsh and stiff when dry. Fibre
identification tests confirmed that Agave americana react like all other natural cellulosic
fibres in burning behaviour, solubility and Shirlastain C identification tests. Microscopic
evaluation indicated that the fibre consisted of a number of irregularly sized and shaped
individual cells, each with a lumen. The Shirlastain C colour reaction and the crosssectional
view of the Agave americana fibre are unique and would be useful to distinguish
Agave americana from other natural cellulosic fibres.
The physical structure and the length of Agave americana fibre were evaluated while the
fibre was in a fibre form. The retted and solar baked Agave americana fibre yarn was evaluated for tensile strength and elongation at break. The thickness, stiffness, dimensional
stability, crease recovery, dye ability, moisture regain and water absorption of the Agave
americana fabric of the solar baked and retted fibres were evaluated.
Agave americana fibre showed adequate tensile strength and elongation at break to be a
useful textile fibre. No significant differences were found between the tensile strength of
the retted and the solar baked fibre. Agave americana exhibited excellent dimensional
stability; it showed relaxation shrinkage with no residual shrinkage. Agave americana
showed good water absorption and moisture regain properties. Agave americana accepted
the direct dye easily even without bleaching. The Agave americana fibre fabric was found
to be relatively stiff. Agave americana exhibited poor crease recovery no significant
difference in crease recovery were found between retted and solar baked fibre fabrics, but
the warp yarns recovered significantly better from creases than the weft yarns. Agave
americana fibre is a promising speciality cellulosic fibre which has a potential of being
valuable for current as well as future applications. The research proved that solar baking is
an efficient, fast and environment friendly alternative to conventional retting as a partial
degradation method for Agave americana fibre decortication.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-09252007-132958 |
| Date | 25 September 2007 |
| Creators | Mafaesa, Manonyane Albertina 'Mamthimk'ulo |
| Contributors | Prof HJH Steyn |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-09252007-132958/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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