Abstract:
Cotton stalks are a by-product of cotton farming and about two to three tonnes of cotton
stalks are generated per hectare of land farmed. In this research, fibres extracted from
waste cotton stalks using natural retting and decortication were used to fabricate a bio-
composite. Normally, these wastes are disposed of on the farmland through incineration
thus polluting the air through emission of harmful greenhouse gases. In accordance with
sustainable development goals, there is a need to sustainably manage forests and combat
desertification which can be better achieved through intensification and greater use of
agricultural by-products. This can be achieved by using waste cotton stalks to make
fibreboards as a replacement material for some solid wood applications. Cotton stalks are
agricultural waste generated after cotton harvesting and tend to harbour parasites such as
the pink bollworm and destructive polyphagous mealybug when left on farmland. Hand
layup technique was used to fabricate the partial bio-composite. The cotton stalk fibre mass
fraction (M f ) varied across five levels between 10.96% – 38.11%. The fabricated composite
was subjected to water absorption tests which was carried out at intervals of 2, 4 and 24
hours. Regression analysis was carried out using Minitab software to ascertain effect of
varying fibre content on water absorption. Composite density was maintained between 644
- 1004 kg/cm 3 . The water absorption varied from 64.94% to 94.97% increasing with fibre
loading due to the hydrophilic nature of the cellulosic cotton stalk fibres for the first two
hours of the composites being submerged in water thereafter followed by a period of very
slow and consistent water uptake. The developed composite compared well to standards
and proved to have suitable properties that give it potential end uses in partition boards, and
for furniture applications.
