dc.description.abstract |
Coconut trees are grown in tropical countries along the coastal regions of Asia, Africa, and
Latin America. One of the coconut’s product whose full potential has not been exploited
adequately is the husk, a fibrous part of the coconut fruit which forms the largest
component of the fruit. Husks are byproducts of nut extraction after mature fruit harvesting
or the cutting of the immature fruit for access to the liquid used as a thirst quencher. This
produces husk, a biowaste that is either discarded in the open or burned, posing
environmental challenges. Because of the bulkiness of the husk and abundance in the
coastal region, there results heap of waste. If this waste could be developed into high-value
applications, then the potential of coconut waste could be realized. This study aimed to
characterize the products of husk waste extraction from mature and immature coconut
fruits for industrial use. The specific objectives were to determine the quantities of coconut
husk waste along the Kenyan coastline resulting from immature coconut fruit; to extract
fibers from mature and immature coconut husk waste; and to characterize the properties of
the decorticated fibers. From a survey carried out, a total of 70 tons coconut husk waste is
generated along the Kenya coastal region. For this research work, 384 husk waste samples
were collected and sun-dried for six months before fiber extraction, alkali treatment, and
characterization. The fiber diameter was measured to be between 123.09μm to 197.44μm.
Fiber density was determined to be between 1073.30 kg/m 3 and 2941.38 kg/m 3 a variation
due to chemical treatment of the fiber, which altered the diameter, a dimension used in
density calculation. Tensile strength ranged from 104.36MPa to 267.10MPa for the fibers.
This can be attributed to the non-uniformity of the fiber with intrinsic diameter in which
the irregularities increase defects in the fiber. The alkali treatment of fiber extracted from
mature and immature coconut husk waste both presented minor changes in Fourier
Transform Infra-Red spectra for treated coir fibers. The thermal stability for both types of
fibers was improved after the alkali treatment because of the elimination of hemicellulose
and lignin. The surface morphology of the untreated coconut fibers revealed a fine and
smooth surface whereas that of treated fibers exhibited a rough and fine surface as a result
of the removal of impurities. Alkali treatment also decreased fiber diameter and resulted in
a rougher surface. Decortication realized coir of various sizes and coco peat. In conclusion,
there is significant waste generated from the coconut husk waste which can be extracted
by decortication. Evaluation of characterized coir demonstrated usage in industrial
application. Optimization of alkalization parameters to explore their influence on fiber
properties is recommended. |
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