Microwave Assisted Surface Treatment of Okra Fibers

Abstract

All over the world, the importance of the sustainable and biodegradable materials is increased very fast. The use of agricultural stem waste as a technical textile material can be made a huge contribution for save the environment. The aim of this research was to pre-treat the okra fibers with microwave energy. The fibers were obtained from Marmara Region agricultural waste by use a specially designed machine. They were microwave-assisted surface treated with 7 % sodium bisulphate and 10 % acetic acid. The results of tensile strength, fiber diameter, SEM and X-Ray analyses were compared to the conventionally treated fiber samples. Finally, microwave-assisted treatments were quite good. Bisulphate treatment was more effective than treatments with acetic acid. When the SEM images was investigated, a lot of porosity was observed on the surface of acetic acid treated fiber and the tensile strength values increased bisulphate treatment.