FURCRAEA

A UNIQUE FIBRE

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What is Furcraea?

1. Furcraea is a natural leaf fibre that grows in the leaves of the fique plant.

2. Furcraea Fibre are soft, flexible, white and lengthy.

3. Few species are cultivated in various countries like India, Sri Lanka and Asian

subcontinents.

4. The Furcraea Plant is grown in dry land but is not being utilized to its fullest

capacity except for cordage due to lack of knowledge regarding its utilization.

Chemical Constituent Cellulose content 80%

Lignin content 18%

Moisture content 7.6%

Ash content is 2.2%

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Extraction of Furcraea Fibre Leaves of furcraea fibre are harvested from

mature plants of 2m of height.

Leaves of approximately 2m of length and 10

cm wide.

Cutting

leaves The vegetable extract by process known as

Decortication.

Leaves are crushed and beaten by a rotating

wheel with blunt knives, so that only fibres is

Obtained.

Obtained fibre is then, dried, brushed and

Baled, Proper drying is important for fibre quality. Milling V I G N E S H D H A N A B A L A N & R A S H M I J O S H I

Characterization of Furcraea fibre

1. Optical Microscopy

Microscopic appearance of cell shows that fibers are cylindrical.

Cell are cemented together but no twisting is seen among the fiber.

2. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

SEM shows a highly structured and heterogeneous

Surface.

At microscopic level, individual fibers consist of

fibrils joined together to form long filaments

arranged in parallel manner.

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3. Spinnability of the fibre

Spinning of 100% Furcraea fibre is not successful it has to be blended with

jute/sisal.

As the proportion of jute is increased, the spinning performance is found to be

better and the quality of yarn is also better.

Surface roughening has to be done to remove wax particle by means of plasma

treatment or chemicals.

4. Weaving of the fibre

The Weavability of Furcraea fibre is not a feasible solution because of its smooth

surface.

The weaving is done by blending with other vegetable fibers like jute/sisal.

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5. Dyeing of the fibre

The material being hydrophobic in nature does not allow water based dye molecules to

color the fibre.

The wax on its surface is also a hindrance to dyeing so pretreatment is carried out.

Reactive-active dye is used to overcome the low rate dyeing performance.

Compounds of the hydroxyl group azo group or sulfonic acid group are used for

printing and dyeing.

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Sr. No Fiber Fineness

Denier

Tenacity

g/den

Relative

weight

Elongation at

break Fiber color range

1 Cotton 2.0 2.5 200 8.0 Cream white

2 Kapok 0.4-0.7 1.4-1.74 - 1.8-4.23 Ivory white to camel

brown

3 Jute 20 3 167 1.5 Creamy white to grey

brown

4 Furcraea 180 2.4 - 2.5-3.5 Pale White

Physical Properties The fibre are subjected to various physical properties are as follows

Average Length of the fibre = 155.60 cms.

Ultimate cell length of the fibre = 5.10 mm.

Breaking length of fibre = 38-42 km.

Modulus of elasticity of fibre = 24-26 N/tex.

Modulus of rupture of fibre = 7-8 mN/tex.

Extension at break of fibre = 2.5-3.5%.

Work of rupture of fibre = 0.044.

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8. Chemical Properties Effect of chemicals

Effect of different chemicals on furcraea fibers are tabulated below.

Sr. No Solvents Reaction at Room Temp. 100°C

1 Acetic Acid (Dil & Conc.) No effect No effect

2 Formic Acid (Dil & Conc.) No effect No effect

3 Dil. Hcl. No effect Colour changes to brown

4 Conc. Hcl. Colour changes to brown Fibre dissolves

5 Dil. HNO3 No effect No effect

6 Conc. HNO3 No effect Fibre disintegrates

7 Dil.H2SO4 Colour changes to black Colour changes to black

8 Conc. H2SO4 Fibre dissolves Fibre dissolves

9 Ammonium thiocyanate No effect No effect

10 Dil Sodium Hypochlorite No effect Colour changes to white

11 Conc. Sodium Hypochlorite Fibre swells fibre swells and changes to white

12 Dil. NaOH No effect No effect

13 Conc. NaoH Fibre swells fibre swell and become soft

14 Xylene (Dil & Conc.) No effect No effect

15 Phenol (Dil & Conc.) No effect No effect

16 Acetone (Dil & Conc.) No effect No effect

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Colour Fastness Test

Washing Fastness

Furcraea does not have good wash care properties, Stain release indicated that there is

slight change in color after washing.

Light fastness

Procion dye have fairly good fastness to light but Naphthol dye has got excellent

fastness to light.

Procion and naphthol dye have better colour fastness for washing and light than

that of direct dye on furcraea fibre.

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Uses of Furcraea Fibre

Packing :- Furcraea Fibre is used for fabrication of sacks and packages for agriculture.

Ropes : - Furcraea fibers are used to make very resistant ropes for industries purpose for

transportation, construction.

Tapestry :- Furcraea Fibre is used in rugs and tapestry of different size and quality.

Others :- handcrafts, purses, bags, handbags, mattresses, curtains, shoes, umbrellas,

baskets and many other products.

Handbags Sacks Shoes

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Conclusion

The textile industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, with new

fibers, processes and refinement being introduced rather consistently.

The requirement of green world has made producers and consumers

turn back to eco-friendly material that are toxic free and can be degraded easily.

New fibers are not appearing in the present time because of superiority of man

designed/engineered fibers . But, there are many undiscovered and lesser

known fibres that can give required results. Even combinations of various

fibers into yarn and fabrics represent some of the most popular means for

providing consumers with products they desire.

Furcraea fibre is one of the most perspective fibers which can be

exploited properly in various potential areas.

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1. V. Natarajan, K. Thangamani and G. Thilagavathi, Unconventional Natural Fibres and Their

Textile Applications, AICTE-ISTE Summer School, 1997, Page 137-144.

2. F. Sadov, M.Korchagin, A. Matetsky, Chemical Technology of Fibrous Materials, MIR

Publishers, Moscow, 1973, P 49-55.

3. Leónides Castellanos González, Aniurka Fernández Valero, Isabel Ortega Meseguer, José.

Orestes Guerra de León, Effectiveness of Furcraea hexapetala (Jacq.) Urban extract on Myzus

persicae Zulzer, Journal of Animal & Plant Sciences, 2011. Vol. 10, Issue 2: 1300- 1305.

4. M.F. Rivera-Velasquez , C. Fallico, A. Molinari, P. Santillan,, and M. Salazar (3), Hydraulic

characterization of “ Furcraea andina” fibres as alternative medium for bioremediation of

contaminated porous media (aquifers) by means of PRB, University della Calabria.

5. Adriana María Quinchía-Figueroa1, Margarita Enid Ramírez-Carmona2 and Geovanna Tafurt-

García2, Biosorption of Chlorothalonil on Fique’s Bagasse (Furcraea sp.): Equilibrium and

Kinetic Studies, Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, ISSN 1934-8959, USA, June

2010, Volume 4, No.6 (Serial No.31).

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furcraea (data retrived on 18/9/13)

References

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