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This investigation is aimed to analyze the effect of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) treatment on the physical, chemical, structural, thermal and surface topography of Phaseolus vulgaris fibers (PVFs). The surface of raw PVFs was modified by soaking with 5% NaOH solution for 15, 30, 45 and 60 min. The various functional groups of the alkali-treated PVFs (APVFs) were studied Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The outcomes of thermogravimetric analysis evident that the optimum treatment time for 5% NaOH was 45 min. It was noticed that optimally treated PVFs have higher cellulose (69.48 wt.%), crystallinity index (52.27%) and lower hemicellulose (4.30 wt.%), lignin (7.02 wt.%) contents. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of PVFs also revealing moderate thermal stability was observed; atomic force microscopy (AFM) investigation inveterates that the surface of the fiber is rough and it will be a potential reinforcement for polymer composites.

This study investigates the dielectric efficiency of a composite prepared using a fiber extracted from Phaseolus vulgaris. The extraction of fiber was statistically modeled using face-centered central composite design. The concentration of NaOH and extraction time was taken as the process variables and dielectric strength was taken as the response. The numerically optimized model for the extraction of fiber from Phaseolus vulgaris of alkali treatment showed 14.325 kV/cm as dielectric strength of initial NaOH concentration of 3% and time period of 51 min. The model was significant with R2 = 0.9323 and adjusted R2 = 0.884. The linear, quadratic & interactive relationship between the response (dielectric strength) and variables (NaOH & time) was also established. This study explains the importance of NaOH and time period in establishing the fiber extraction by the alkali treatment process.