Characterization of Pulp Extracted from Agro-waste Fibers Using Steam Explosion Technique

This work is concerned with the characterization of pulp extracted from agro-waste fibers using steam explosion technique. Steam explosion is a very efficient and non-reactive technique to extract soft and absorbent cellulose pulp from agro waste fibers like banana, bagasse, and sisal. Preforms prepared from the extracted pulp, with the aid of binders, using the water laid method, enhanced their suitability to be used for sanitary napkins, due to improved fiber integrity and absorbency. The preforms developed from these extracted pulp were used as the absorbent core of the sanitary napkins to replace the widely used synthetic viscose wood pulp, which thereby improved the eco-friendliness of the sanitary napkins. The preforms were made from these pulps in combination with various binders namely cassava, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), and sodium alginate in various concentrations namely 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5%. The various preform samples were tested for physical and absorbency-related performance characteristics like grams per square meter, thickness, density of the pulp, absorbency and immersion time, vertical wicking, strike through rate and swelling measurements. It was found that the preforms made with cassava as the binder, recorded higher absorbency properties when compared to other preforms, which were made using CMC and sodium alginate.