Novel scouring method of hemp fibers based on electrochemical techniques

Abstract

Hemp fiber has excellent performance as a renewable fiber material. It is of great significance to study more efficient, energy-saving and environmentally friendly pre-treatment methods of hemp textiles. A novel hemp fiber scouring method based on electrochemical techniques was presented in the research. A type of water solution with high and stable oxidative potential due to in-situ- generated oxidative components was produced by the proposed electrical method, and was applied to scouring treatment of raw hemp fibers by just soaking the fibers in it. Hemp fibers with different treatments were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, and residual gum rate, lignin content and whiteness of the samples were tested. Experiment results show that electrochemical scouring has a similar degumming effect of hemp fibers compared with traditional chemical scouring, with a better lignin removal and whiteness, implying an effective and short process method of hemp textiles pre-treatment with low impact on the environment.