Influence of soaking time on tensile strength of coconut fiber

Abstract

The objectives of research are to determine the effect of long soaking of coconut fiber in alkali solution to the tensile strength of coconut fiber. The testing stages include preparation, soaking, drying, testing, and analysis. The materials used consist of coconut fiber, alkali solution, aquades, tensile test equipment, and furnace. Coconut fiber is soaked in an alkali solution with a concentration of 20% for 1, 5, 7, 9, and 11 hours. Then, the coconut fiber was rinsed with aquades before being dried in a furnace at 90°C for 5 hours. Furthermore, tests of mechanical properties include a single fiber tensile of coconut fiber with ASTM 3379-02 standart. Based on the results and discussion, it can be concluded that (a) the alkali treatment decreases the amount of hemicellulose and cellulose in coconut fiber, (b) the lowest hemicellulose and cellulose content was obtained at 7-hour immersion i.e. 8.85% and 18.40%, (c) the maximum tensile strength obtained at 7 hours of soaking is 223.907 N/mm2.