Mercerized jute fabrics suitable for technical textiles

Abstract

Simple chemical modifications by using 17.5 % NaOH (for 5, 15, or 30 min) were applied to obtain jute fabrics suitable for various types of technical textiles such as carpet backing and advanced protective textiles, i.e., protective clothing in environments sensitive to electrical discharges. The raw, as well as mercerized jute fabrics, were characterized in terms of their chemical composition (cellulose and hemicellulose content), structural characteristics (fabric weight, thickness, and porosity), and fibbers’ surface morphology (determined by FESEM). In order to assess their ability for utilization as technical textiles, the compression properties (compressibility and compression resilience), abrasion resistance (by determining mass loss after 750 and 1000 cycles), and volume electrical resistivity were studied. The obtained results revealed that with prolonging the mercerization duration from 5 up to 30 min, the hemicellulose content decreased, fabrics' compactness increases contributing to decreased compressibility and increased compression resilience. Concerning the abrasion resistance, a mass loss of about 19 % was observed after 750 cycles in the case of raw jute fabric, while the mercerized jute fabrics possessed up to 7.6 % mass loss even after 1000 cycles. Such behaviour could be ascribed to the higher friction force between the yarns within the mercerized fabrics and between the fibres within the yarns enabling less loss of fibres from the fabric surface. Mercerization for 5 min leads to a decrease, while those performed for 30 min resulted in an increased volume electrical resistivity.