Abstract:
Plastic packaging materials have been in existence since their invention by a Swedish
engineer in the 1960s. Because polythene shopping bags can take up to 1000 years to
degrade, they result in substantial and continuous deterioration of the environment.
Some East African countries have initiated and some implemented the ban of polythene
bags. It was upon this background that renewable and biodegradable luffa cylindrica
nonwoven alternative was developed to help feel part of this gap. The objectives of the
study were therefore, to extract luffa cylindrica fibres and to characterise its mechanical
properties; and to produce a nonwoven structure from luffa cylindrica fibres and
characterise their mechanical properties. The methodology entailed. The
characterisation of Luffa cylindrica fibres in terms of fibre diameter, linear density,
moisture regain, lignin content, hemicellulose content, cellulose content and effect of
water retting, gauge length and concentration of sodium hydroxide on breaking load,
elongation (ISO 5079:1995), tenacity and linear density(ISO 1973:1995). A dry laid
adhesively bonded nonwoven structure was then produced from luffa cylindrica fibres
and assessed for mass per unit area (ISO 9073-1:1989), thickness (ISO 9073-2:1995),
tensile strength and elongation (ISO 9073-3:1989), tearing strength (ISO 9073-4:1997),
and bursting strength (ISO 13938-2:1999). Full factorial experimental design was used
to study luffa cylindrica fibres properties. Data analysis was conducted using Minitab-
17 and Microsoft Excel 2010 software. The luffa cylindrica fibres had a moisture regain
of 10.81%, lignin content of 12.03%, cellulose content of 65.69%, hemicellulose
content of 19%, linear density range of (470-572) dTex, and fibre diameter of (0.0018-
0.0041) mm. The determined breaking load of the fibre was (417.04-1444.19) cN after
water retting and (298.05-997.81) cN after various caustic treatments. The fibre
elongation was (4.0-24.0) % after water retting and (4.3-14.5) % after various caustic
treatments. Tenacity of luffa cylindrica fibres was (6.0-25.25) cN/Tex after water
retting and (5.9-20.22) cN/Tex after various caustic treatments. The nonwoven
structure had mass per unit area (645-3386) g/m 2 , thickness (1.48-1.80) mm, tensile
strength of (1.4-110.2) N, elongation of (2.8-13.8) %, tearing strength of (2,292.5-
47,952.0) mN, and bursting strength of (79.4-338.2) kilopascals. The nonwoven
structure properties satisfied the requirements for bursting strength and tearing strength
specified by Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for shopping bags. The study thus
provides a possibility of using luffa cylindrica nonwoven structure as a potential
substitute for polythene packaging and shopping bags on the Kenyan market.