Single elementary and thick-core fibers showed similar surface morphology, degree of crystallinity (ranging from 21–40 %) and tensile properties with some variation in elastic modulus. Tensile test conducted for several gage lengths did not influence the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the fibers, however, strain-at-break depended on gage length.

Cassava fibers of different genotypes did not show any significant difference in tensile properties, with average tensile strength ranging from (5.1–7.3 MPa), Young’s modulus (258–333 MPa) and failure strain (3.4–4.2 %). Fibers were tested according to ASTM C1557 under direct tension in a standard mechanical testing system and the cross-sectional area of the fractured regions of the fibers were determined using a 3D optical microscopy method. In this study, the tensile properties, morphology, crystallinity and thermal degradation profile of non-chemically treated single elementary cellulose fibers and thick-core fibers of different cassava genotypes were investigated. However, a review of the literature was unable to find any study that characterized the material properties (such as tensile properties) of both the single elementary and white thick-core cassava cellulose fibers), and their application as potential reinforced filler in tissue engineering scaffold development. Cassava bagasse contains considerable amount of natural single elementary cellulose fibers and white thick root fiber (thick-core fiber) that has seen frequent application in the packaging industry as reinforcement for plastic composite development.

Tissue engineering scaffold biomaterial