¹Department of Applied Chemistry, Delhi Technological University, Delhi-110042
²Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, R&D Division, Faridabad, Haryana, India
*Corresponding author email: ramsingh@dtu.ac.in

India being an agricultural country has great potential to utilize fiber derived from agricultural waste. Pigeon pea stalk (PS) is an agricultural waste. The pre-treatments of PS fibers enhance their compatibility with polymer in the area of polymer composites. This work deals with three different types of pre-treatments of PS fiber. The treatments were studied with the help of SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA and XPS. The PS fibers have undergone laccase enzyme treatment, alkaline treatment with sodium hydroxide and potassium permanganate treatment. The results confirmed the reduction of lignin and hemicellulose after the chemical modification of fibers. The increase in % crystallinity and thermal stability in treated fibers has been observed. The morphological evaluation showed the increase in surface area and roughness of the fiber surface which is useful for efficient bonding with the polymer matrix.

Pigeon pea stalk, Fiber, Composite, Alkaline treatment, Enzymes, Agricultural waste

Recieved: June 11, 2018
Revised: Oct 29, 2018
Accepted: Nov 19, 2018
Published on: June 6, 2019
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.29198/ejs1901
European Journal of Sciences (EJS) 2019, In Press
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