Characterization of novel cellulosic fiber extracted from agro-waste of Ricinus communis plant for sustainable green composite materials

Biowastes from agricultural and other industrial plants have been identified as potential fibers for the development of biocomposite materials for various industrial products. This study focuses on a novel cellulosic fiber extracted from the agro-wastes of Ricinus communis (RC) plant stem. The raw RC fibers extracted from the stems were separated by the manual retting process, dried, shortened, and alkali-treated with NaOH solution at varying percentages. Results portrayed that 4% treated fiber showed better characterization results. The physical characterization includes the density and the diameter of the RC fibers which are found to be in the range of 1.24 g/cc and 235 mu m respectively. Chemical characterization studies represent the changes in the composition of cellulose, wax, lignin, pectin, and hemicellulose from raw and chemically treated RC fibers due to alkaline treatment for surface modification in the future development of biocomposite materials. Thermal analysis data showed that the biofibers were thermally stable in the range of 300 to 350 degree celsius. The X-ray diffraction spectrum analysis showed almost the same crystallinity index for both raw and treated fibers in the range of 40%. The physical structure of raw and alkali-treated fibers was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), also the elements of carbon, hydrogen, hydroxyl, and other chemical bonds were identified using FTIR spectroscopy, exhibiting the presence of required bio-composition. The tensile properties of the fibers were found to have a tensile strength of 428 MPa and Young's modulus of 9.89 GPa. The surface texture of the treated fiber had a higher roughness, which would result in higher reinforcement in polymer-based biocomposites. In addition, RC fibers are abundant and can be potential, biodegradable, economical, and productive biofiber for developing sustainable green composite materials.