Ricinus communis plant residues as a source for natural cellulose fibers potentially exploitable in polymer composites

Natural cellulose fibers with properties suitable for textile and other applications have been extracted from the outer layer of Ricinus communis (castor plant) stems. Castor plants are cultivated mainly for their oil seeds but are also found to grow extensively as weeds in marshy and polluted waters. The plant grows up to 40 feet in length with minimum requirement of natural resources. Up to 5-10 times the weight of the oil seeds are left as residue which is generally burnt or buried in the ground. In this research, we studied the potential of using castor plant residues as a source for natural cellulose fibers. Fibers were extracted using a simple alkaline approach and characterized for their morphology, physical structure and tensile properties. Polypropylene was reinforced with castor fibers and made into composites. About 25% of the stem could be obtained as fibers with properties similar to that of fibers from other lignocellulosic plant residues. Individual fibers were fibrillar and exhibited convolutions similar to those seen in cotton. Elongation of the fibers at 5% was higher than common bast fibers jute and flax and the strength at 2.7 g/den (350 MPa) was similar to that of jute but lower than that of cotton. Castor fibers have the properties to be processable as textile fibers and were also found to be suitable as reinforcement for composites. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.