Improved Characteristics of Acetic Anhydride and Phthalic Anhydride Modified Jute Fibers

Abstract

The modification of jute fiber with acetic (aliphatic) and phthalic (aromatic) anhydrides has revealed pronounced improvement of the inherent drawbacks (such as breaking strength, thermal stability, color fastness, etc.) of jute fiber. Between the acetic anhydride (AA) and phthalic anhydride (PA) modified fibers, the latter have shown better improvement of the described properties. Modification of jute with anhydrides is carried out in an aqueous medium (solid-liquid system) with potassium persulfate as the initiator under the catalytic influence of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4). At an optimized reaction condition, the percent weight gain and efficiency of the modifying agents are 12.94% and 14.38% for AA respectively and 15.18% and 18.98% for PA respectively. The FT-IR spectra confirm the modification reaction and the TGA shows an improvement in the thermal properties. The mechanical properties are investigated with a tensile tester. Upon prolonged exposure of the modified fibers to sunlight, the color fastness of the modified and unmodified fibers is measured with a grey scale.