The Changes on Morphological and Absorption Ability of Treated Corn Stalk Fiber

Abstract Natural fiber like corn stalk fiber nowadays can be used to replace synthetic fiber. However, their natural properties may influence their performance which making hem limited to use. In this research study, variety types of chemical treatment which economical technique was used to modified the physical and chemical properties of corn stalk fiber. After the treatment process, the surface morphology and water absorption ability of the fiber was examined. There was an improvement on surface morphological by making them clean and rough compared to untreated corn stalk fiber. The hydrophobicity of corn stalk fiber also increased after treatment. As we can see, H2SO4-treated fiber has lowest water absorption ability compared to others. By removing the unnecessarily element on the fiber which comparable with synthetic fiber may increase their potential to become first choice as reinforcement materials in composite industries later.