60-64Fibres have been extracted from corn husks
in undried and dried forms by an alkalization treatment followed by enzymatic
process at different concentrations of xylanase enzyme. The effects of drying
process and xylanase enzyme concentration on the mechanical and textile
properties of corn husk fibres have been investigated. The linear density of
extracted fibres decreases with the increase in enzyme concentration and
drying. Increasing enzyme concentration increases the breaking tenacity and
initial modulus up to a point and then decreases them with any further increase
in concentration. Fibres obtained from dried husks show dull colour as compared
to those obtained from undried husks. No negative effect of drying process is
observed on the performance of corn husk fibres. The highest tensile
performance and fineness values are obtained from fibres of dried husks,
treated with 0.4% Pentopan® mono BG enzyme, with a breaking tenacity of 9.44
cN/tex, initial modulus value of 282 cN/tex, and a fineness of 21.6 tex