A novel chemical degumming process for ramie fiber was developed, using sodium carbonate solution with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as an auxiliary surfactant and sodium triphosphate. Optimum performance for the degumming of ramie fiber was obtained with sodium carbonate concentration 30 g·L —1, PVA concentration 2.2 g·L— 1, sodium triphosphate concentration 6.0 g·L— 1 and temperature 90 °C. The tensile properties of the ramie fibers degummed using Na2CO3 are comparable with fibers degummed using sodium hydroxide. This new mild, rapid degumming technique for ramie fiber has a potential application in industry, and is less environmentally polluting than the traditional method. The ramie fibers before and after degumming were characterized by FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy.
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