Capillary rise and sorption ability of hemp fibers oxidized by non-selective oxidative agents: hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate

Abstract

In this paper, the capillary rise and sorption ability of hemp fibers oxidized with hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate were studied, with the aim to get more insight into the changes in the structure of hemp fibers caused by oxidation, and to compare the influence of applied oxidative agents on hemp fibers. Capillary rise was presented as a function of a liquid rise height vs times, with determined all three capillary coefficients, while sorption ability was determined as water retention values and moisture sorption. For structural analysis of the samples the ATR-FTIR technique was used. Also, the amount of aldehyde and carboxyl groups and the lignin content in oxidized fibers were determined. The surface fibers morphology was observed by FESEM. In all oxidized hemp fibers an increase in capillarity was obtained for both oxidizing agents (33–75 mm for H2O2, and 40–114 mm for KMnO4), compared to 31 mm for unmodified fibers, but decreased sorption ability. Application of both oxidative agents, were successful for introduction of functional groups into oxidized fibers, for reduction of the amount of non-cellulosic substances, as well as moisture sorption. Simultaneously, the fibers became finer, cleaner, whiter, softer and more suitable for further processing, while, generally, higher influence on changes into oxidized hemp fibers was achieved by oxidation with KMnO4, compared to oxidation with H2O2.