Characterization of raw and alkali treated new natural cellulosic fibres extracted from the aerial roots of banyan tree.

The objective of this investigation is to check the suitability novel cellulosic fibre extracted from the aerial roots of Banyan tree (ARBFs) as reinforcement in fibre reinforced plastics. The Fundamental properties of ARBFs such as density, tensile strength, chemical composition, crystallinity index, crystalline size, thermal stability, maximum degradation temperature and surface roughness were studied. The chemical analysis results revealed that after the alkalization cellulose content was improved while hemi-cellulose, lignin and wax content were demised. The enhancement in the crystallinity index (76.35% from 72.47%) and crystalline size (7.74 nm from 6.28 nm) of alkali treated ARBFs were evidenced by the X-ray diffraction analysis. Thermal analysis results confirmed that maximum degradation temperature (368 °C) and kinetic activation energy (75.45 kJ/mol) of alkali treated ARBFs had increased from 358 °C and 72.65 kJ/mol respectively. The results of scanning electron microscopic and atomic force microscopic analysis exhibited that impurities and wax on the outer surface of the ARBFs were removed after the alkali treatment. All the above finding concluded that ARBFs is the appropriate material to use as a reinforcement in fibre reinforced plastics.