Alkaline Treatment Effect on Mechanical Properties of Date palm Wood Fiber

The date Palm tree (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is a providential tree for oases inhabitants, growing in wild state around the Mideterranean North Africa and dry areas. In the past it was used as building material because of its mechanical and hydrous qualities. The use of such a fibrous plant in cementitious matrix leads to lightweight materials with very attractive tensile behavior that can be used as advantageous filling materials for structures. This paper is focused on the optimisation of mechanical properties of this kind of materials by a prior alklaline treatment of the Date palm fiber before its using as reinforcement in a given matrix. The treatment was carried out using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution at three different concentration 0.5%, 0.75% et 1% NaOH , we submit after that the untreated and treated specimens to a thermogravemetric analysis (TGA) to measure the influence of soda treatment on the mass loss. Afterward, the samples were teseted for mechanical properties dermination. Consistent results were obtained for tensile strength and young modulus, which indicates that the NaOH treatment led to a change in the chemical composition of the Palm fiber and succeeded to improve its mechanical properties and therfore proved the effectiveness of the treatment.