Effect of Alkaline and Hot Water Treatments on the Structure and Morphology of Piassava Fibers

The effect of alcaline and hot water surface treatments of piassava Attalea funifera fibers was investigated. The efficiency of each treatment was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The alkaline treatments were effective in removing the superficial lignin layer from the fiber, while the hot water treatment was not. Treatment with hot water and NaOH caused fiber defibrillation. NaOH was most effective in promoting both, a decrease in fiber diameter and an increase in fiber surface area. Treatment with Ca(OH)2 led to the formation of a CaCO3 layer deposited on the fiber, preventing defibrillation. The crystalline structure of the fiber was not altered by any of the treatments, maintaining type I cellulose.

本研究针对皮阿萨瓦（Attalea funifera）纤维的碱性与热水表面处理效果展开了探究。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱（Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy）、X射线衍射法（X-ray diffractometry）、光学显微镜、扫描电子显微镜（Scanning Electron Microscopy）及原子力显微镜（Atomic Force Microscopy）对各处理方案的效能进行了系统评估。碱性处理可有效去除纤维表面的木质素层，而热水处理则无法实现该效果。热水与氢氧化钠（NaOH）联合处理可诱导纤维发生原纤化。氢氧化钠（NaOH）在降低纤维直径与提升纤维比表面积两方面均表现出最优效能。经氢氧化钙（Ca(OH)₂）处理后，纤维表面会沉积形成碳酸钙（CaCO₃）层，进而抑制原纤化过程。所有处理均未改变纤维的晶体结构，其始终保持I型纤维素（Type I cellulose）的晶型。