D.B. Shakyawar’s research while affiliated with National Institute of Research on Jute and Allied Fibre Technology and other places

Banana (Musa paradisiaca) farming generates huge quantities of biomass, all of which goes to waste due to the non-availability of suitable technology for its commercial application. The potential solution to this issue could be the conversion of pseudo-stems into valuable assets by converting them into fibres for various textile and non-textile applications. The specific characteristics of banana pseudo-stem fibre i.e. high absorptivity, breathability and biodegradability made it sustainable as well as suitable for the development of diversified products and blending with other natural fibres. However, non-uniformity in availability, obscurity of its intended uses and lack of knowledge for assessment of fibre quality posed a biggest hurdle to reach the fibre into the textile markets. Hence, a novel sensor-based digital instrument for assessing the quality parameters i.e. bundle strength and fineness along with overall grade of banana pseudo-stem fibre is presented in this research article. The developed instrument mainly consists of a fibre bundle strength measurement unit, fineness measuring unit and visual interface cum data acquisition unit. Test results indicated that bundle strength and fineness measured by developed instrument varied from 20.92 g/tex to 28.31 g/tex and 5.63 tex to 6.41 tex respectively. Furthermore, a good correlation between the measured and actual outputs of bundle strength (One-Way ANOVA, F28,2 = 3.914, P = 0.224), fineness (One-Way ANOVA, F51,2 = 4.730, P = 0.190) and overall quality of fibre (Independent sample T-Test, F34,1 = 0.95, P = 0.190). Was observed at 5 % level of significance. The present study also introduced a grading system for quality assessment of banana fibre based on the well-established and well-recognized grading system of jute fibre developed by Indian Standard (IS: 271 2020). The developed instrument is easy to build as well as easy to use and have an approximate cost of $1800.00. The combination of developed instrument and grading system is an accurate, feasible and time-ordered technique for the assessment of the overall quality of the banana fibre and well suited for the actual conditions.

The structure and physico-mechanical properties of Canabinus sativa L. fibre from a specific agro-climatic region of India were thoroughly studied. The fine structure of the fibre was examined by FTIR, TGA, XRD, component analysis, and SEM. SEM shows heterogeneous morphology with prominent longitudinal ridges having cracks and surface impurities. XRD shows a moderate degree of crystallinity (49%) but sharp peaks indicating the presence of an appreciable amount of cellulose matter. FTIR reveals the presence of large quantities of hydroxyl and aldehyde along with phenolic groups. The fine structure of European hemp fibre was compared with the Indian hemp fibres. Component and thermal analyses indicate the presence of hemicellulose and cellulose as major constituents along with lignin. The breaker carded fibre shows that hemp is longer, finer, lighter, stronger, more extensible, more flexible, and has lower crystalline fibre than jute. Its colour value is also better than that of jute. Hemp yarn is better than jute yarn, especially in bulk, flexibility, elongation, and modulus. Blended yarn is better in strength and work of rupture but inferior in hairiness. Studies show that hemp fabric has better properties than jute fabric, especially in terms of flexibility, bulk, and strength. A jute processing system may be a very good option for hemp fibre and can be used to make jute blended yarn and 100% hemp yarn for apparel and furnishing grade fabric with better functional properties.

A new method of manufacturing flexible composite has been developed by using cellulose-protein fibre blended needle punched non-woven structure and suitable chemical formulation of natural rubber, sulphur dispersion, accelerator, activator, stabilizer, natural filler antioxidant. Scoured proteinous wool fibre was used in different blend proportion with bleached cellulosic ramie fibre (ramie: wool = 80:10 and 80:20) for making non-woven structure having grammage of around 250 g/m². One side of the developed fibre reinforced flexible composite was spray coated with optimised formulation of pigment and polyurethane in two phases (base coating and top coating), followed by hot-pressing and wax polishing. Physical properties like abrasion resistance, tensile strength, tear strength, puncture resistance, permeability and porosity of the developed product have been examined and compared with a marketed artificial leather and wet blue goat leather having same thickness and weight. The developed leather alternative presented tensile strength values 30% smaller than the natural goat leather, and both presented similar values of tear strength. Extensibility of the developed composites was within 23–27% whereas natural leather showed 70% extensibility. Ramie-wool reinforced rubberised flexible composites have shown 20–25% more thickness recovery as compared to the only ramie based flexible composites in dynamic loading test. Developed composite products were scientifically characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and compared with marketed synthetic leather. Biodegradability and antimicrobial property of the developed product were also examined as per standard test methods. Besides, commercialization prospect of the product with cost analysis also has been represented in the current context.

Jute (Corchorus Olitorius) universally recognized as a golden fiber is one of the important cash crops in eastern India. In jute plants apart from fiber, sticks also have diversified applications in various sectors. Therefore, an advanced fiber extraction machinery that can extract fiber through ribbon retting without breaking sticks is the need of the hour for jute-growing farmers. In the present study, a gender-friendly power ribboner has been designed, simulated, and developed by considering the anthropometric data of both male and female operators. The developed prototype consists of a pair of fluted crushing rollers with pressure absorbing unit, a pair of peeling rollers, a fiber conveyor, power transmission unit, and an electric motor. The structural analysis of the designed fluted crushing rollers showed that the designed model and selected material (nylon 66/6) can withstand 10 times more load than the actual. At the optimized conditions throughput capacity, extraction capacity, extraction efficiency, and ribbon losses of the developed prototype were obtained as 227 kg/h, 116 kg/h, 92.95%, and 5.3% respectively, while the overall desirability of 0.966 was achieved. Furthermore, with the adaptation of the developed machine, jute farmers can get approximately Rs. 525/quintal or 12% more income than the conventional practice.

Herbal extract-induced metallic nanoparticles have replaced the traditionally synthesized nanoparticles to achieve sustainability in antimicrobial textiles. Silver nanoparticles (NPs) were created by the bio-reducion of silver nitrate with eucalyptus corymbia leaf extract. The bi-lateral activities of herbal extract, like the reduction and capping of silver nanoparticles, have added new dimensions in the bactericidal sector. Silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, a particle size analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and X-ray diffractometry. In this study these biosynthesized nanoparticles were applied on cotton fabric alone and along with chitosan by the pad-dry-cure method to create antibacterial clothing. Antibacterial efficiency was characterized using the colony counting method (serial dilution method). The treated fabric shows excellent antibacterial efficiency.