Characterization of Natural Fabric Sterculia urens

The newly identified natural fabric from the tree Sterculia urens was characterized by chemical, FT-IR, X-ray and thermogravimetric, tensile test, and microscopic methods. The effect of alkali treatment of the fabric on its properties was also investigated. On alkali treatment, the amorphous hemicellulose was found to be eliminated to a large extent. The improvement of properties of this fabric on alkali treatment was attributed to the lowering of its amorphous hemicellulose content.