The Efficiency of Eri Silk Degumming by Using Banana Leaf Ashes and Standard Soap Solution

Abstract

The objective of this work is to compare the efficiency of two different degumming treatments for removing sericin from Eri silk fiber. Two simple methods were chosen to study; (1) Soaking in banana leaf ash solution and (2) Soaking in standard soap solution. Factorial in Completely Randomized Design (Factorial in CRD) was performed in this research. Three parameters including type of alkaline solution (Banana leaf ashes and standard soap), pH of alkaline solution (8, 9 and 10) and time of degumming step (3, 6 and 9 days) were studied. Degumming process was carried out by soaking the cocoon in an alkaline solution at room temperature, then washing with water and drying at 80 °C for 24 hours. After the degumming process, the configuration and physical properties of fibers and the value of coloring (K/S) were studied. The results show that the different treatments had remarkable impact on physical properties of Eri silk, as confirmed by photographs of Eri silk in cross and long sections after treatments. Soaking in banana leaf ashes solution at pH 10 for 9 days gave maximum weight loss due to high degumming efficiency which the average weight loss percentage is 67.6 %. The smallest fiber size is 10.386 µm. While, soaking in banana leaf ashes solution at pH 8 for 3 days show the highest tensile strength which is 7.986 N. Moreover, soaking in banana leaf ashes solution at pH 10 for 9 days also show the minimum of coloring value which is 5.593 (K/S). The different degumming treatments resulted in significantly different physical properties at 95 percent confidence level.