1. Production of Textile Materials from Bagasse Paper MPhil / PhD J. Chummun (jchummun@uom.ac.mu) University of Mauritius Faculty of Engineering

2. The aim of this project is to manufacture textiles from bagasse paper.

3. Objectives Investigate the parameters that influence paper-yarns; Establish the relationship between bagasse-paper properties such as grammage, thickness, strip width, tensile properties and that of the properties of the paper-yarn; Investigate into the possibility of manufacturing paper- yarns from bagasse paper; Manufacture the appropriate structure from bagasse paper-yarns.

4. Manufacture of textiles from bagasse paper: The Process: 1.Slitting of paper into narrow strips; 2.Folding of strip; 3.Twisting the folded paper into yarn. 4.Treated / Untreated yarns converted into textiles.

5. Dimensions of bagasse fibre and its derived values showing its closeness to that of softwood and hardwood.

6. Properties of bagasse paper and its suitability for newsprint. Papers manufactured from softwoods, hardwoods as well as newsprints have been used in the manufacture of paper-yarns. This may seem to suggest that bagasse paper could easily be twisted into yarn; and no great difficulty should be met during the process.

7. Twisting of dry paper-ribbon Difficulties arise when paper ribbon are twisted in the dry state. Moreover, depending on the width, the ribbon tends to assume a ‘wrapped ribbon’ shape.

8. Paper Yarns Paper strip should therefore be moistened then folded in the condenser and finally twisted and wound on a cone.

9. Paper Yarn Paper Yarn with 2.7 tpi. The 44.8 gsm paper was manufactured from unbleached softwood pulp.

10. Twist Contraction of Paper Yarns

11. To spin a yarn of a particular twist value using a heavier paper, a longer ribbon will be required. Thicker paper is less flexible and therefore tends to assume a larger diameter while being twisted and therefore a longer path along the axis of the yarn.

12. Comparison of paper strength to yarn strength The strength tends to increase with increasing twist per init length until it reaches a maximum value and then fall as the number of twists increases.

13. Behaviour of paper yarns under load The extensions in the yarns seem to be similar at low loads. As the value of the load increases, the yarns with higher twists tend to have larger extensions.

14. Behaviour of paper yarns under load When subjected to load along its axis, the yarn tends to unbend, while the twist angle (or helical angle) increases until the whole structure is jammed.

15. Failure of paper yarns SEM pictures to show the broken ends of paper-yarns

16. Failure of paper yarns It is possible that failure of a few fibres occurs in the region of highest load and subsequently neighbouring individual fibres will either break or their inter-fibre bond will be broken (Page, 1994). In this case, the breaking would be similar to tearing.

17. Strength of Paper-yarn The strength of paper-yarn depends on:  strength;  grammage;  thickness of the paper it is made from;  width of the paper-ribbon used;  number of twists imparted to it.

18. Strength of Paper-yarn The specific strength of paper-yarns tends to be higher at lower twist-contraction values.

19. Further Work The relationship between the strength of paper strips of different widths and specific mass and that of the yarns ‘spun’ from them will be further investigated. The manufacture of ‘paper-cords’ from heavier paper will also be investigated.

20. Further Work It is envisaged to study the effects of a range of physical processing parameters and the incorporation of ‘safe’ additives into the bagasse paper with a view to assess key properties such as dry and wet strength, water penetration, air permeability, flammability, colouration, filtration, etc.

21. Further Work Textile structures will be produced using the weaving, knitting and/or braiding processes. Their potential applications will be investigated.

22. Expected Benefits  Could increase the income from bagasse by 500%;  Opportunity for SME & craft market to manufacture ‘green’ bagasse products ;  With some creativity, local artisanal products may be made for the growing tourist industry;  Locally available raw material that is renewable and environmentally-friendly.

23. Acknowledgement  University of Mauritius;  ACU;  University of Manchester (UoMan.);  Supervisors: Dr Rosunee (UoM); Prof Carr (UoMan.);  Dr Sampson; Dr I’Anson; Prof. Porat (UoMan.);