Effects of Extraction Methods on the Morphology and Physico-Chemical Properties of Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum L.) Fibres

摘要

Spanish Broom fibers are very interesting natural material for textile and technical applications. Spanish Broom elementary fibers are arranged in bundles and bound by lignin and pectins. Any industrial utilisation of Spanish Broom requires the separation of the fibers from the woody core of the branches (known as vermenes), which is achieved by different methods: mechanical, chemical and biological. In this work, two different extraction methods (mechanical and physico-chemical) for obtaining Spanish Broom fibers were compared. The chemical and physical properties of Spanish Broom fibers are reported. Fibers extracted by the physico-chemical method showed a content of lignin and pentosans lower than those extracted mechanically. Both the mechanically and physico-chemically extracted fibers were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the tensile properties of the fibres extracted are discussed. Spanish Broom fibers extracted by the physico-chemical method have better tensile properties than fibers extracted mechanically.