Linear Density and Surface Morphology of Kenaf Fibres from Different Extraction Methods

Abstract

The fineness and morphology of kenaf fibres are the main focus of this paper. The kenaf fibres were processed through water retting, chemical retting and mechanical extractions. The water retting method produces finer fibres between 3.2 to 3.7 Tex while other methods produces fibres between 4.0 to 5.0 Tex. The chemical retting method resulted in smoother fibre surface when examined using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy under different magnifications. The fibre diameters from the different retting and extraction methods vary from 33 to 134 m and did not show to have any relationship with fibre fineness.