TY - JOUR
T1 - Elucidation of the fibrous structure of Musaceae maturate rachis
AU - Gañán, Piedad
AU - Zuluaga, Robin
AU - Cruz, Javier
AU - Vélez, Juan M.
AU - Retegi, Aloña
AU - Mondragon, Iñaki
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank to Colciencias for the financial support that has made this research work possible.
PY - 2008/2
Y1 - 2008/2
N2 - In the last years several composites and high performance materials with woody and non-woody natural fibers have been developed. In this study, a morphological study of agricultural residues as rachis from Musaceae plants cultivated in Colombia has been carried out. Fibrous structures as fiber bundles, elementary or ultimate fibers and even cellulose microfibrils grouped together into microfibril bundles have been observed. Both biological retting and chemical procedures like alkali treatments combined with alkaline peroxide and acid addition have been used. Different microscopic techniques as optical (OM), confocal (CM), scanning electron (SEM), and atomic force (AFM) ones have been used for analysis of isolated samples. A hierarchical arrangement from conducting tissues and fiber bundles to cellulose microfibrils in Musaceae rachis has been noted. All of these structures can be isolated by biological and chemical processes at the corresponding arrangement level. This means that Musaceae rachises constitute a source of new interesting biodegradable raw materials with multiple possibilities in dimensions and morphologies for several industries. A strong presence of crystal structures exists on fiber surfaces, being their occurrence related to the maturate state of rachis samples. Additionally, a top-down scheme is proposed for understanding the structuration of rachis at each length scale.
AB - In the last years several composites and high performance materials with woody and non-woody natural fibers have been developed. In this study, a morphological study of agricultural residues as rachis from Musaceae plants cultivated in Colombia has been carried out. Fibrous structures as fiber bundles, elementary or ultimate fibers and even cellulose microfibrils grouped together into microfibril bundles have been observed. Both biological retting and chemical procedures like alkali treatments combined with alkaline peroxide and acid addition have been used. Different microscopic techniques as optical (OM), confocal (CM), scanning electron (SEM), and atomic force (AFM) ones have been used for analysis of isolated samples. A hierarchical arrangement from conducting tissues and fiber bundles to cellulose microfibrils in Musaceae rachis has been noted. All of these structures can be isolated by biological and chemical processes at the corresponding arrangement level. This means that Musaceae rachises constitute a source of new interesting biodegradable raw materials with multiple possibilities in dimensions and morphologies for several industries. A strong presence of crystal structures exists on fiber surfaces, being their occurrence related to the maturate state of rachis samples. Additionally, a top-down scheme is proposed for understanding the structuration of rachis at each length scale.
KW - Agricultural residues
KW - Cellulose microfibrils
KW - Fiber bundles
KW - Fibrous structure
KW - Hierarchical arrangement
KW - Morphology
KW - Musaceae plants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=38049013787&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10570-007-9150-z
DO - 10.1007/s10570-007-9150-z
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:38049013787
VL - 15
SP - 131
EP - 139
JO - Cellulose
JF - Cellulose
SN - 0969-0239
IS - 1
ER -