Morphology, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of Bark Cloth from Ficus natalensis

Abstract

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed in 2005 that Ugandan bark cloth is largely produced from mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis) as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” An exploratory investigation of bark cloth a nonwoven material produced through a series of pummeling processes from mutuba tree in Uganda is fronted as a prospective engineering natural fabric. Bark cloth was obtained from Ficus natalensis trees in Nsangwa village, Buyijja parish in Mpigi district, Central Uganda. The morphology of the fabric was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). thermal behavior of the fabric was studied using thermagravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to evaluate the surface functional groups. The fabric was subjected to alkaline treatment for six hours at room temperature in order to study the change in fabric thermal properties so as to set a base for applications in biodegradable composites. Findings show that the natural nonwoven fleece is stable below 200°C; alkaline treatment positively influences the thermal behavior by increasing the onset of cellulose degradation temperature. The fabric morphology showed that it is made up of fairly ordered microfibers which can be beneficial for nanocomposites.

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Hindawi Publishing Corporation
ISRN Textiles
Volume , Article ID , pages
http://dx.doi.org/.//
Research Article
Morphology, Thermal, and Mechanical Characterization of
Bark Cloth from Ficus natalensis
Samson Rwawiire,1,2 George William Luggya,2and Blanka Tomkova1
1Department of Material Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Studentsk´
a2,46117Liberec,CzechRepublic
2Department of Textile and Ginning Engineering, Busitema University, P.O. Box 236, Tororo, Uganda
Correspondence should be addressed to Samson Rwawiire; rsammy@eng.busitema.ac.ug
Received  July ; Accepted  July 
Academic Editors: M. Jaroszewski, A. A. Merati, G. Schoukens, and C. Wang
Copyright ©  Samson Rwawiire et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
e United Nations Educational, Scientic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) proclaimed in  that Ugandan bark cloth
is largely produced from mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis) as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” An
exploratory investigation of bark cloth a nonwoven material produced through a series of pummeling processes from mutuba tree
inUgandaisfrontedasaprospectiveengineeringnaturalfabric.BarkclothwasobtainedfromFicus natalensis trees in Nsangwa
village, Buyijja parish in Mpigi district, Central Uganda. e morphology of the fabric was investigated using scanning electron
microscope (SEM). thermal behavior of the fabric was studied using thermagravimetric analysis (TGA) and dierential scanning
calorimetry (DSC). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to evaluate the surface functional groups. e fabric was
subjected to alkaline treatment for six hours at room temperature in order to study the change in fabric thermal properties so as
to set a base for applications in biodegradable composites. Findings show that the natural nonwoven eece is stable below ∘C;
alkaline treatment positively inuences the thermal behavior by increasing the onset of cellulose degradation temperature. e
fabric morphology showed that it is made up of fairly ordered microbers which can be benecial for nanocomposites.
1. Introduction
Worldwide, researchers are embroiled in a race for niche
products whereby industries can boost production processes
as well as putting into consideration the laws of sustainability.
e quest for structural materials, which are environmentally
friendly, to mitigate global warming eects is on the agenda of
industrialized nations and recommendations are put forward
forproductionofrecyclable,biodegradableproductsor
materials with zero emissions.
Transition to a more sustainable biobased economy, as a
political consequence of the Kyoto protocol on global climate
change, includes a shi from petrochemical to renewable
sources.
e ecological “green” image of cellulosic bers is the
leading argument for innovation and development of prod-
ucts which are biodegradable and can be applied to automo-
tive industries [–], building and construction [], geotex-
tiles, and agricultural products [,].
Plant-based bers like ax, hemp, nettle, and kenaf which
have been used to provide ber in the Western world have
attracted renewed interest in textile and industrial composite
applications [–].
e need for lightness of materials with superb per-
formance characteristics has sparked interest in lightweight
composite materials. e front seat drivers of low density
coupled with excellent mechanical properties of natural b-
rous composites have a double impact in this respect. Carbon,
glass, and Kevlar are the leading providers of ber for com-
posite reinforcement. e bottleneck is that their feedstock is
from petroleum sources and has disposal concerns. With the
dwindling petroleum resources coupled with high prices [,
], ber from lignocellulosic materials will play a major role
in the transition from synthetic to environmentally friendly
biodegradable green composites whose feedstock is from
wood and plants.
Numerousresearchesareowinginonuseofnovel
plants for production of ber such as Sansevieria [,],

ISRN Textiles
(a) (b)
F : (a) A man dressed in bark cloth harvesting bark from mutuba tree. (b) Protecting the tree. Image courtesy “Fumiko Ohinata/
UNESCO”.
piassava [], okra [,], palm oil [], and carnauba [].
Uganda like many tropical countries has a variety of plants
with potential of ber production. Some are domestically
cultivated such as pineapples, bananas, okra, sisal, and oil
palm, others grow in the wild and for example, sansevieria,
nettle,ramie,andsoforth.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientic
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), bark cloth has been
in production in Uganda for over six centuries; however,
the nonwoven eece which is produced through a series of
pummeling processes has been conned to cultural regalia
won at coronation of kings by Baganda a tribe in central
Uganda and was also utilized during funerals and other
witchcra-related ceremonies. e technology transfer of
bark cloth production from the elderly to the youth has
been impeded by rural to urban migration of the youth and
inuence to modernization. at notwithstanding, in ,
UNESCO proclaimed it as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity” []. In the  s and  s,
production of bark cloth was banned in Uganda and was
revivedinthes.Duetotheban,thenumberofbark
cloth cras men was reduced and they were marginalized in
society; however, due to increased imports of textiles from
Asia especially China, bark cloth production is rendered
unprotable with few buyers. Value addition of bark cloth
through engineering the fabric for probably composite rein-
forcement will create sustainable development of the rural
communities and will once again lead to vibrant communities
and increased bark cloth production. Bark cloth terracotta in
color from FicusnatalensisandAntiaristoxicariais largely
produced in Uganda and it is possible to be applied in
composite reinforcement [].
e front seat drivers and prospects of bark cloth are
because it is a naturally occurring fabric meaning that it is
biodegradable, cheap, low-specic weight, and so forth. e
fact that it is a natural nonwoven material is advantageous
whereby it can be applied as a starting material for heat
insulation and composite products. e drawbacks are that it
is hydrophilic in nature, tedious, and has lengthy extraction
processes coupled with lack of mechanized equipment for
extraction.
In this study, an exploratory investigation of nonwoven
fabric from the inner bark of mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis)
is characterized. e trees grow naturally in Central Uganda
and do not need fertilizers. Trees preserved for the purpose
of bark cloth production are well tendered such that the stem
hasnorootstopropagateonit.
Despite the fact that bark cloth has been around dating
back as far as th century, there has been limited data or
scientic study on bark cloth. erefore, in this study, for the
rst time we present the microstructure, static, thermal, and
mechanical properties of bark cloth.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Extraction. e extraction of the naturally occurring
nonwoven as described by Rwawiire et al. () []starts
with scrapping o the surface layer of the trunk to expose
the fresh raw bark using a sharp blade. e blade is held at
an angle such that only the surface layer is removed and also
avoids damaging the tree and fresh bark (Figure (a)). A ring
isthencutwithaknifeonbothendsofthescrappedstemthat
reected the length of the bark cloth that was to be produced.
At the same time, a vertical slit is made from the top of the
stem to bottom. With the help of a wedged tool locally known
as ekiteteme, carvedoutoftheinnermostpartofabanana
stem, the bark is easily peeled o starting from the base slowly
moving upwards.
For environmental sustainability, the debarked stem is
wrapped with banana leaves, (Figure (b))whichactsas
bandages to prevent dehydration. ese are usually removed
aer a week giving way for growth of fresh bark. (Figure )is
the detailed process of production of bark cloth. e extracted
bark is then burnt using dried banana leaves to soen it
prior to pummeling process which includes dierent well-
designed wooden grooved hammers. Pummeling is usually
done under a shade to prevent direct sunrays from creating
creases in the bark cloth. Aer pummeling, the bark cloth is
sundried for  hours every day for  days giving it a rich deep
red-brown color and then repounded to smoothen the cloth
surfaces. Drying involves stretching the wet fresh bark cloth

ISRN Textiles 
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)
F : Extraction of bark cloth from mutuba tree (a) and (b) scrapping of surface layer. (c) Debarking the tree using a banana stalk. (d)
Peeling o the bark. (e) Pummeling process using grooved wooden hammers. (f) Dried and nished bark cloth.
using heavy loads at its perimeter to retain its dimensions on
drying.
2.2. Fabric ickness. e fabric thickness was obtained using
UNI ickness Meter. Measurement is done at dierent
positions; the probe with a disc delivers a pressure of  kPa
over an area of  cm2for  s; then the thickness is obtained
in mm. Ten readings were obtained and an average was
statistically computed.
2.3. Chemical Treatment. e bark cloth was subjected to
alkali treatment of % NaOH solution. e bark cloth weigh-
ing.gwassoakedinitforhrsatroomtemperature
thereaer thoroughly cleaned using distilled water to remove
the alkali together with other impurities and then dried at
room temperature.
2.4. Characterization Methods
2.4.1. Fabric Morphology. e surface morphologies were
investigated using a Vegas-Tescan scanning electron micro-
scope with accelerating voltage of  KV.
2.4.2. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Nico-
let iN MX Scanning FTIR Microscope was used to pro-
videthespectrumofthesample.einfraredabsorbance
spectrumofeachsamplewasobtainedintherangeof–
 cm−1.
2.4.3. ermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). ermogravime-
tric analysis was carried out using a Mettler Toledo TGA/
SDTA851eunder a dynamic nitrogen atmosphere heating
from room temperature (∘C) to ∘C at a heating rate
of ∘C/min. Weight changes of the ber samples weighing
approximately - mg were measured.
2.4.4. Dierential Scanning Calorimeter Analysis (DSC). e
Perkin Elmer Dierential Scanning Calorimeter DSC was
used. Samples weighing approximately mg using Waga
Torsyjna-WT scale were placed in aluminum pans and sealed.
e specimens were heated in an inert nitrogen atmosphere
from room temperature (∘C) to ∘C at a heating rate of
∘C/min.
2.4.5. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. Nicolet iN
MX Scanning FTIR Microscope was used to provide the spec-
trum of the sample. e FT-IR spectrum of each sample was
obtained in the range of – cm−1 in the transmission
mode.
2.4.6. Mechanical Properties. e fabric strength was quan-
tied through measurements of samples for the bursting

ISRN Textiles
F : SEM morphology of transverse sections of bark cloth at magnications x, x, and x.
strength of the nonwoven eece. Samples measuring  cm
by  cm were tested using a Labotech fabric tensile testing
machine at room temperature.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Fabric Morphology. SEM was used to study the fabric
morphology and images of the microstructure of the fabrics
were obtained. e front seat drivers of SEM against optical
microscope are that SEM has a high depth of eld even at high
magnications. Ghassemieh et al. () []showedthatby
using SEM for fabric morphology, more bers in the fabric
are in focus and are included in the image compared with
other methods. In order to show a representativeimage of the
fabric, magnication was optimized by using magnications
of , , and . Several images were taken in order to
show the microstructure of the fabric and to pinpoint the ber
orientations in bark cloth.
Figure  showstheSEMimagesatdierentmagnica-
tions. e transverse sections of the fabric show that the
structure is entirely made up of solid cellulosic bers without
lumens.emicrobersareovalinshapebondedbylignin
and hemicelluloses with diameters between  and  𝜇m.
e images also show that bark cloth can be a rich source for
cellulose microbrils for nanocomposites.
e top surface of bark cloth (Figure )showsthecross-
linking of naturally bonded bers with oval-shaped pores
in the fabric created by voids arising from the ber cross-
linkages. Just like the top surface, the bottom surface of
the fabric shows a dense packing of the bers as seen in
(Figure ). e lignin and hemicelluloses which bind the
microbers together are responsible for the fabric’s thermal
comfort properties. e microbers are aligned in a fairly
orderly manner forming cross-linkages.
ere is slight change in the color appearance of the fabric
aer alkaline treatment (Figure ); however, aer drying, the
fabric tender so touch was lost and it adopted a rigid feeling.
e slightly rigid feeling aer alkaline treatment is attributed
to a decrease in the moisture content, thus leaving hard rigid
bers compared to the untreated fabric.
3.2. Fabric ickness. e mean fabric thickness was com-
puted as . mm from ve samples of readings at dierent
positions of the fabric.
3.3. Fabric Strength. e mean strength of the fabric in the
ber direction was . N and . N transverse. Since bark
cloth bers are aligned at angles (Figure ), the fabric samples
were cut such that the tests are applied in longitudinal (ber
direction) and transverse directions (perpendicular).

ISRN Textiles 
(a) (b)
(c)
F : SEM morphology of top surface of untreated bark cloth at magnications (a) x, (b) x, and (c) x.
3.4. Surface Functional Groups. Functional groups assign-
ments and their respective bonding interactions of bark
cloth can be deduced using Fourier transform infrared s
pectroscopy (Figure ). Natural brous-specic bands and
their corresponding bonding interactions have been studied
by numerous researchers [–]. ere is a variation in the
reported bands from one researcher to another; however,
the dierence is not too signicant because most natural
brous materials are made up of celluloses, hemicelluloses,
and lignin.
Abroadabsorptionbandatcm
−1 isduetoO–H
stretching vibrations of cellulose and hemicelluloses. e
band at  cm−1 corresponds to CH2and CH3stretching
vibrations []. e band at  cm−1 is due to carbonyl
groups (C=O) stretching and vibration of acetyl groups of
hemicelluloses [,,].
Aer this peak, the sudden leveling o shows that the
hemicelluloses are removed from the ber. Aromatic vibra-
tion of benzene ring in lignin may be at  cm−1.e
absorption band at  cm−1 was owing to CH2bending in
lignin, whereas the peak at  cm−1 was due to O–H in-
plane bending []. e peak at  cm−1 was assigned to CH
symmetric bending. e band at cm−1 may correspond
to C–O stretching of acetyl group of lignin [,,].
e band at  cm−1 maybeduetoC–O–Casymmetrical
stretching in cellulose. e broad peak at  cm−1 is due
to –C–O–C– pyranose ring skeletal vibration []. e band
at  cm−1 represents glycosidic –C–H deformation, with
a ring vibration contribution and –O–H bending which
are the characteristics of 𝛽-glycosidic linkages between the
anhydroglucose units in cellulose [,,].
3.5. ermal Properties. Nascimento et al. () []showed
that for natural bers the thermogravimetric behavior is
directly proportional to the chemical constituents of the
bers. Figure  shows the thermogram of bark cloth. e rst
stage from ∘Cto
∘C is attributed to evaporation of water
accounting for about % loss in weight.
e second stage accounting to about % weight loss
starts from about ∘Cto
∘Cwithamaximumdecom-
position temperature corresponding to around ∘C. e
temperature range ∘C–∘C corresponds to the cleavage
of glycosidic linkages of cellulose which leads to formation of
H2O, CO2, alkanes, and other hydrocarbon derivatives [].

ISRN Textiles
50 𝜇m
(a)
500 𝜇m
(b)
500 𝜇m
(c)
50 𝜇m
(d)
F : SEM morphology of treated bark cloth at magnications (a) x, (b) and (c) x, and (d) x.
F : Approximate ber arrangement of bark cloth.
e last stage of decomposition starting from around ∘C
corresponds to % loss in weight is due to char or other
decomposition reactions [].
Bark cloth thermograms have showed that the fabric is
stable below ∘C; therefore, alternatives of composite ber
reinforcement can be explored provided that the working
700 1200 1700 2200 2700 3200 3700 4200
Absorbance
3363
1056
1615
1740 2929
779
1529
1445
1105
1529
1157
1274
Wavenumber (cm-1)
F : Fourier transform infrared spectra of bark cloth.
and production temperature of composites is kept under this
temperature.

ISRN Textiles 
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
Residual weight (%)
Temperature (∘C)
F : ermogram of bark cloth.
−60
−50
−40
−30
−20
−10
0
10
20
30
40
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Heat ow endo up (mW)
Barkcloth
NaOH-treated barkcloth
Temperature (∘C)
F : Dierential scanning calorimetry of untreated and
alkaline-treated bark cloth.
e rst peak at .∘C(Figure ) corresponds to water
loss, whereas a small peak at ∘Cwithheat.J/gmaybe
due to decomposition of hemicelluloses. Onset at .∘Cis
due to decomposition of cellulose which is in agreement with
the weight loss as can be observed from the TGA thermogram
in Figure . ere was no crystallization observed due to
the fact the source is wood ber from the bark of Ficus n.
trees. e last peak at temperature .∘Cisattributedto
decomposition of lignin.
4. Conclusion
Bark cloth extracted from Ficus natalensis trees was charac-
terized using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dier-
ential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and
scanning electron microscopy.
Bark cloth is a porous fabric made of cellulosic material;
the microbers were found to be aligned in a fairly orderly
manner at angles close to ∘. ermal properties of the fabric
show that it is stable below temperatures of ∘C; therefore,
thefabriccanbeexploredforcompositereinforcement.It
was observed that alkaline treatments positively inuence the
thermal properties of the fabric, raising the onset temperature
of cellulose decomposition, meaning that if used for compos-
ite reinforcement, chemical surface treatments will improve
the performance properties of bark cloth as reinforcement for
composites.
Acknowledgments
e rst author is grateful to God for life Busitema University
forgrantingastudyleave,andalsototheTechnicalUniversity
of Liberec for funding the research.
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