MODIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CEIBA PENTANDRA (L.) GAERTN. (KAPOK) FIBER: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Abstract

Kapok fiber is a natural material that has unique properties, can be renewed with a large lumen, it has hydrophobic properties, as an absorbent in oil, heavy metals, and sound. To increase the absorption capacity of heavy metals, physical properties, and chemical resistance, modifications were made to change the fiber properties from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. One way is through the process of soaking the kapok fibers in a solvent to remove non-cellulose compounds. In this study, to improve the properties of kapok fiber, soaking has been done with various solutions, there are HCl, NaOH, NaClO, NaClO-NaOH-NaClO, and NaClO2-NaOH-NaClO2 solution. Immersion of kapok fibers in NaClO2-NaOH-NaClO2 solution can increase cellulose content up to 93.69% with porosity content of 4.75%. NaClO2-NaOH-NaClO2-treated can absorb water up to 211.27%, the second highest after treatment with the NaClO-NaOH-NaClO-treated solution of 285.29%. Immersion in NaClO-NaOH-NaClO and NaClO2-NaOH-NaClO2 solvents also causes damage to the kapok fiber protective layer which indicates the loss of lignin, so that a significant change of the hydrophobic fiber becomes hydrophilic as seen in the SEM results.