Abstract
Kenaf bast can be obtained by decortication of Kenaf stem. Kenaf fibers are much more rough than cotton fiber because they include impurities as pectin, lignin and hemicellulose besides cellulose. The purpose of this research is to investigate the distribution of kenaf fiber length and diameter during the processes of removing impurities. To remove pectin, kenaf bast was retted chemically. A half of the retted kenaf fiber bundle were scoured and bleached. The other half one were treated with $NaClO_2$ solution to remove lignin, and were treated with sodium hydroxide solution to remove hemicellulose. Four kinds of specimens that were obtained for investigating physical characteristics. Length and diameter of 100 fibers on each specimen was measured. The tensile strength of 100 fiber bundles were measured. And also the color values of them were measured with spectrocolorimeter. The length of retted kenaf fiber was 16.97cm. Then it decreased to 11.43cm after bleaching. Kenaf fiber bundles could be finer by chemical processes that remove non-cellulosic materials. The thickness of retted fiber was $132{\mu}m$. And after undergoing the chemical processes to remove non-cellulosic materials, the thickness of kenaf fiber became finer as $73{\mu}m$. Tensile strength of the retted kenaf fiber bundles was 11.37Mpa. The retted kenaf fiber lost their strength as 22.6% by bleaching and as 18.3% by treatment for removing lignin. The retted kenaf fiber showed low whiteness as 56.48 of L*value. After bleaching, the kenaf fibers have creamy white color and their whiteness got 90.02 of L*value. After the treatment for removing hemicellulose, the kenaf fibers also have creamy white color and their whiteness got L* value of 79.02.
