~ 1440 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(4): 1440-1443 P-ISSN: 2349–8528 E-ISSN: 2321–4902 www.chemijournal.com IJCS 2020; 8(4): 1440-1443 © 2020 IJCS Received: 24-05-2020 Accepted: 26-06-2020 Beenu Singh Department of Clothing and Textiles, College of Home Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India Manisha Gahlot Department of Clothing and Textiles, College of Home Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India Anita Rani Department of Clothing and Textiles, College of Home Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India AK Shukla Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India Corresponding Author: Beenu Singh Department of Clothing and Textiles, College of Home Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology Pantnagar, U. S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India Chemical treatment of nettle ribbons and its effect on tensile property of extracted fiber Beenu Singh, Manisha Gahlot, Anita Rani and AK Shukla DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i4m.9817 Abstract Stinging nettle (Girardinia diversifolia) is a cellulosic plant fiber which is abundantly available in the upper regions of Himalayas. The stem fibres are pliable which are used to weave or knit fabric. This fiber is very strong, but rigid and inextensible. This has restricted its usage in handmade textile products only. In order to process this fiber on a range of textile machines for development of a variety of products with enhanced performance, the fiber needs to be strong, flexible and extensible. This study was aimed at to increase the fiber tenacity by giving chemical pre-treatment. The effects of various experimental parameters, such as chemical concentration and time on tenacity of nettle fibres were studied. In the study, the chemical pre-treated nettle fibers were examined for their mechanical characteristics and compared to untreated fibers (control sample). The untreated fiber was less flexible and less extensible. A pre-treatment resulted in increase in tenacity and elongation at break. The increase in tensile strength was found to be 5.46 g/den from 3.84 g/den (as in case of control sample) and elongation increased to 3.33% from 1.66%. Keywords: Himalayan nettle; chemical pre-treatment; tenacity Introduction Nettle is a cellulosic plant fiber which is abundantly available in tropical wasteland areas in the world. This fiber is very strong, but rigid and inextensible (Dreyer and Edom, 2005) [6] . It has been used to prepare many handmade textile products, but its rigidity and inextensibility have made it very difficult to process using machines. Nettle is a cellulosic plant which produces bast fibres for suitable textile uses. Amongst few varieties of available nettle plants all over the world, common stinging nettle (Urtica diocia) and Himalayan giant nettle ( Girardinia diversifolia) are having properties which are suitable for textile end uses. Nettle production (Urtica diocia) began in Europe in the 19th Century and during the 1st and 2nd world War, nettle was promoted as substitute of cotton (Vogl and Hartl, 2003) [1] . Nettle is abundantly available in tropical wasteland areas around the world. The nettle family, Urticaceace, contains around 500 species. It is abundantly found on sides of the river, forest land and moist habitat in Nepal and this shrub grows wildly throughout the mountainous regions of India for e.g. Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, and Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh. In Uttarakhand Himalayan nettle is locally known as bichchhu buti, nilgiri and kandali, it is found in Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts which it grows as undergrowth wild fibre. It is a perennial plant possibly best known as a source of strong, light-weight, sustainable natural fibers. (Badoni and Ghosh, 2015) [3] . The plant has a long history as fiber plants were widely used for bowstrings, fishing nets, sail cloth and even fine textiles in many cultures. Its use as a fiber disappeared after the arrival of flax and cotton in the 16th century, but now a day’s its use is being revived. It is found better than jute and can be blended with other fibers. Different parts of the nettle plant have been used as food, fodder and raw material in cosmetics, medicines and bio-dynamic agriculture. Until few years back it was lying unexplored when on realizing its potential in the field of textiles. Many institutions in the region initiated research and developmental activities on the possibilities in the field of handloom based products from nettle. Many countries like United Kingdom and Germany have been involved in the development of nettle since 1999, and have made significant expansion in this field (UBFDB 2015) [4] . Nettle fiber is very strong, but rigid and inextensible. This has restricted its usage in handmade textile products only, though it has potential for replacing glass fiber as reinforcement in textile-reinforced polymer