Abstract:
The growing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly adhesives in the textile industry has
highlighted the need to explore natural alternatives to synthetic, petroleum-based adhesives. This
project investigated the effectiveness of pectin-based adhesive from sweet potato residues for
binding nonwoven textile materials. Sweet potato peel, an abundant agricultural byproduct in
Uganda is under-utilized and yet can be used as a low-cost source of pectin. The study focuses on
three main objectives: optimizing the pectin extraction process, characterizing the chemical
properties of the extracted pectin and evaluating its adhesive performance in binding nonwoven
fibers. The use of Response Surface Methodology to optimize the extraction parameters mainly
extraction time and extraction temperatures using Composed Composite design experiment
consisting of 32 runs was employed to determine pectin yield as the response with hydrochloric
acid as the extraction solvent. The pH of the extraction solvent was kept constant at 1.5. This was
followed by modifying the adhesion of the extracted pectin using calcium chloride as a
crosslinking agent and glycerol as plasticizer. Both modified and unmodified extracted pectin
sample was analyzed on Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (for functional group and degree
of esterification) which are very crucial for adhesive properties. The adhesive’s binding strength,
thermal stability and water resistance tests were carried out to assess the suitability for textile
applications. These properties were conducted on nonwoven cotton fabrics as hygienic nonwoven
fabrics. Results from this study demonstrated the potential of sweet potato derived pectin as a
renewable, environmentally friendly adhesive contributing to sustainable development in the
textile industry
