Swelling characteristics of jute fibre with water and different organic and inorganic vapours and liquids

Swelling characteristics of both raw and delignified jute fibres were determined by measuring the changes in diameter and length of the fibres exposed to water and different organic vapours and immersed in those liquids. Longitudinal swelling has been found to be very much negligible compared to transverse swelling. In the case of raw jute fibre, maximum transverse swelling (32.5%) was obtained with 30% sodium hydroxide solution, followed by water (29.51%), formaldehyde (23.08%), methyl alcohol (9.86%), acetone (8.95%), acetic acid (8.7%) and ethyl alcohol (6.64%). In the case of delignified jute fibre, maximum transverse swelling (38.5%) was obtained with 25% sodium hydroxide solution, followed by water (36.67%), formaldehyde (30%), methyl alcohol (13.10%), acetone (12.82%), acetic acid (10.31%) and ethyl alcohol (9.64%). It was also found that swelling was higher in liquid phase than in vapour phase. The delignified fibre was found to break at 30% sodium hydroxide solution.