Characterization of blue agave bagasse fibers of Mexico

This paper presents physical, chemical, thermal and tensile properties of Mexican cooked blue agave bagasse fibers extracted from this plant. The fibers are 10-12 cm long and 592.34 mu m in diameter. The elliptical cells in the fiber are regularly arranged with varying lumen size. The cellulose and lignin contents of the fiber are 73.60% and 21.10% respectively. Fibers showed decreasing average values of ultimate tensile strength and constant values of Young's modulus and average % strain values with increasing mean gauge length and decreasing mean diameter. Above results are discussed in the light of various factors that affect the properties. These fibers are found to be thermally stable due to their higher values of crystallinity and lignin. Main aim of this work is to characterize these partially degraded fibers with a view to find possible uses for such fibers such as compostable and biodegradable composites of corn starch/cooked blue agave residues. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.