Morphological Characterization of Soapbark Fibers

Abstract

The local availability of biowaste, which can be used as possible source of fibers, is an important trigger for research into new lignocellulosic materials for potential introduction into biocomposites: to evaluate this possibility, characterization is needed. In this work, soapbark (Acacia Caesia) fibers are obtained by peeling the bark fibrous structure out of these climbers, which are diffuse in Kerala, a state of southern India, particularly in the Western Ghats. Acacia Caesia bark is widely available and is used for ayurvedic medicine purposes to reduce the skin issues, and therefore in the wider context of cosmetics. The fibers extracted from the bark have not previously been researched for their potential use in materials, though them being lightweight, renewable, cheap, entirely or partially recyclable, and biodegradable. In particular, Acacia Caesia fibers’ properties, once extracted from the bark, have been investigated to determine their appropriate applications in the future, starting from soapbark fiber morphology. The fibers were therefore extracted, and their fibers' chemical composition, density and morphological features, such as diameter, regularity, compactness, presence of porosities, were determined in particular by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In practice, soapbark fibers do appear quite similar to coir, with the added difficulty of cumbersome extraction process.