Characterization of Carbon Materials Derived from Jute Pyrolysis under an Inert Atmosphere

This study examines the impact of chemical pre-treatment on the carbonization of woven jute fibers. We clean raw jute with isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and then we treat raw jute with solutions of potassium hydroxide (KOH), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), or potassium permanganate (KMnO₄) as separate pretreatment processes. We pyrolyze the woven jute fibers with a two-step pyrolysis process, at 250°C and 650 °C under an inert atmosphere. We measure dimensional shrinkage and mass loss dimensions of woven raw jute after pyrolysis. Furthermore, we analyze chemical structural changes using FTIR spectroscopy. Our results show that mass loss is reduced after chemical treatment compared to untreated fibers, the treatment with KMnO₄ shows the least loss of mass. However, the raw jute treated with chemicals demonstrates higher dimensional shrinkage compared to non-treated ones where the treatment with KMnO₄ shows the highest dimensional shrinkage. Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis shows that 7.5 wt.% NaOH pretreatment of jute performed optimally to remove non-cellulosic components like hemicellulose and lignin. Through our method, we synthesize carbonized structures with minimal residual oxygenated functional groups. This work characterizes carbon materials derived from raw jute fibers to assess their suitability for applications in composites, water purification, and energy-storage electrodes.