Effects of Sodium Hydroxide on the Compositions of Shea Butter Bark Wood Fiber for Polymeric Composite Production in Structural Application

Abstract

The efficiency of natural fiber rely on pre-treatment for the reduction of unwanted components in its accessibility for industrial application. This study investigates the effects of sodium hydroxide on the chemical compositions of shell butter bark wood fiber (SBBWF). The SBBWF was pre-treated with NaOH at 3, 6 and 9 wt% for 18 hours. The SBBWF for untreated and treated were subjected to gravimetric method and fourier transform infra-red spectrometer (FTIR) to determine the chemical composition and organic functionality present, respectively. The changes in the prevalent functional group of the alkali treated and untreated SBBWF were also investigated. After treatment, the improvement of cellulose and mimimization of the hemicellulose and lignin content was noticed. Results from the elemental compositional analysis indicated that SBBWF contained high cellulose content (33.89%) followed by hemicellulose (33.67%) and lignin (8.66%). The optimum cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin contents were obtained at 3%wt and 9 wt% sodium hydroxide, respectively. The FTIR result showed that  the modification of the SBBWF as a disappearance in functional group was observed.The disappeared functional groups were present in untreated SBBWF and positional change in the transmittance  with sodium hydroxide treated SBBWF. Finally, the shea butte bark wood fiber is highly recommended for biocomposite production in structural application.