Study of Thermal Analysis of Selected Cellulose Fibres

This paper provides the investigation of thermal analysis of cellulose fibres which will be used into building materials as a partial filler replacement. Cellulosic fibres come from two various sources: bleached wood pulp and unbleached waste paper whereas these natural fibres have different cellulose contents and another manufacturing process. Natural fibres have been widely used as reinforcing fillers in composite materials in recent years. As a result, they are subjected to thermal degradation during composite processing. It is thus of practical significance to understand and predict the thermal decomposition process of natural fibres and the knowledge will help better design the composite process and estimate the influence on composite properties by the thermal decomposition of natural fibres. The results obtained from the thermal analysis of cellulosic fibres showed differences in their thermal decomposition and also differences in the weight loss due to their chemo-mechanical treatment, the presence of impurities and CaCO3 originating from filler in paper making