Mechanical modification of degummed jute fibre for high value textile end uses

The effects of pretreatment and mechanical modification on characteristics of jute fibre were evaluated in this paper. The experimental results show that pretreatments and mechanical modifications both have obvious effects on the characteristics of jute fibre. The blended agent used for pretreatment can form a thin film on the surface of jute fibre to make it smoother, so the fibre can be refined by further mechanical modification. Regarding the four process routes used for mechanical modification discussed in this study, the process of draft-cutting and speedily carding can produce jute fibre with finer diameter, lower average length, higher percentage of short fibre, and lower tenacity. The jute fibre pretreated with blended agent and mechanically modified by Process 1 has linear density of 16.1 dtex, average length of 35.2 mm, and tenacity of 3.4 cN/dtex. indicating that it is available for high value textile end uses. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.