Abstract:

In order to improve the properties of ramie fibers treated by N-methyllmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), an orthogonal experiment was designed for the optimization of the treatment peocess. By testing the properties of ramie fibers after treatment, it was found that under conditions of temperature of  65 ℃, concentration of NMMO solution 30% and treatment time of 20 min, the ramie fibers had optimum comprehensive properties. It was confirmed that no NMMO residue existed and no new types of cellulose generated on the treated jibers. Under the optimum conditions of the process, the breaking tenacity and crystallinity of the ramie fibers decreased by 23.84% and 21.08% while the linear density, breaking elongation and breaking rotation number of the ramie fibers increased by 11.05%, 41.36% and 57.53% , respectively. The comprehensive properties of the ramie fibers had a great improvement compared with those untreated.