Now You Know Textile Fibers: Sources, Chemical Composition

Types, Sources and Chemical Composition of Textile Fibers
Jay Sanjay Trivedi
Dept of Textile Engineering
Government Polytechnic Nagpur, India
Email: trivedij006@gmail.com

SOURCES OF CELLULOSIC FIBERS:
Classification of fiber according to cellulosic sources are given below.

1. SEED HAIR FIBERS:
The seed hairs like cotton contain cellulose with very less non cellulosic substance (4-12%). This makes purification most simpler than for most of other cellulosic fibers. Other seed fibers are kapok and bombax cotton. These fibers contain 55-65% cellulose.

2. BAST FIBERS:
The Bast fibers are long fibers of the outer bark of the various plants. It includes FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, RAMIE, KENAF, SUNN etc.. the fibers are integrated with natural gum in the plant structure. The fibers are separated by removal of the gums and the process is generally known as RETTING.

Sources and Chemical Composition of Textile Fibers Now You Know Textile Fibers: Sources, Chemical Composition

Fig: Textile fibers

3. LEAF FIBERS:
Many of the celluslosiv fibers like SISAL, HEMP, MANILA are also obtained from the leaves of the plants. The fibers extend longitudinally the full length of the leaf and contribute strength to the leaves. The fibers are buried in tissues of the leaves and can be separated from the tissue by scrapping since there is no bonding between the fibers and the tissue. This process is known as DECORTIFICATION.

4. HASK OR FRUIT FIBERS:
The husk of coconut, betelnut,and palmnut which protect the fruit for development can be processed and utilize as a fiber. After removal of the fruit the husk can be extyracted, retted, and processed.

SOURCES OF PROTEIN FIBERS:

Sr. No	Fibers	Sources
1.	Wool	From Sheep
2.	Mohair	From Angara Goat
3.	Cashmere	From Cashmere Goat
4.	Camel Hair	From Camel
5.	Rabbit Hair	From Rabbit
6.	Horse Hair	From Horse
7.	Alpaca, Ilama	Ilama

Another type of protein fibers is produced from the larvae of caterpillars when cocoons are formed.

SOURCES OF SYNTHETIC:
Main sources of formation of synthetic fibers are:

PETROLEUM
NATURAL GAS DEPOSIT
COAL

ADVANTAGE:

High resistance to chemicals
High resistance
Low flammability
High elasticity and so high resistance to distortion and creasing.
High resistance to abrasion.

CHEMICAL EXTRACTED AND MONOMERS:

Sr.No	Chemicals	Monomers
1.	Methane	Vinyl Chloride Vinyl Acetate Acrylonitrile Hexamethylene Diamine
2.	Ethane	Vinyl Chloride
3.	Ethylene	Ethylene Ethylene Glycol Vinyl Chloride Acrylonitrile Hexamethylene Diamine Styrene
4.	Propylene	Propylene Acrylonitrile
5.	Proprane/Butane	Ethylene Propylene
6.	Butadiene	Hexamethylene Diamine
7.	Benzene	Adipic Acid Hexamethylene Diamine Caprolactum
8.	Phenol	Terephathalic Acid Hexamethylenediamine

CLASSIFICATION OF POLYMER:

Sr.No	Monomer Characteristic	Type Of Polymer
1.	Functionality Of The Monomer	Linear Polymer, Branched Polymers, Or Cross Linked Polymers.
2.	Chemical Characteristic Of The Monomers	Addition Polymers Or Condensation Polymers.
3.	Chemical Groups Present In Condensation Polymers	Polymer Named As Per The Chemical Group E.G Polyamides, Polyethylene
4.	No. Of Monomers Used	Homo-Polymer Or Co-Polymer

The main characteristics of fiber forming polymer:

Flexibility
Molecular Mass
Configuration
Crystallinity
Orientation

Spinning method for different polymer:

Sr.No	Method Of Spinning	Polymer	Chemical Nature
1.	Melt Spinning	Nylon Polyester Polyethylene Polypropylene	Polyamide Poly(Ethylene Terephtalate) Ethylene Homo And Co-Polymer Propylene Homo And Copolymer
2.	Dry Spinning	Cell Acetate Vinyon	Acetylated Cellulose Vinyl Chloride And Vinyl Acetate Co-Polymer Poly(Acrylonitrile)
3.	Wet Spinning	Viscose Casein Acrylin Vinylon Pvc	Cellulose Protein Poly(Acrylonitrile) Polyvinyl Alcohol Polyvinyl Chloride

DENSITY METHOD:
Volume fraction crystallinity can be calculated by using following equation:

Xv(%) = do-da/dc-da*100

where,

Xv = is the volume fraction crystallinity.
do = the density of the experimental sample.
dc = the density of pure crystalline area.
da = the density of pure amorphous area.

The mass fraction crystallinity can be measured from the specific volume information. This equation is:

Xm(%) = Va-Vo/Va-Vc*100

where,

Xm = is the mass fraction crystallinity.
Vo = the specific volume of the experimental sample.
Va = the specific volume of pure amorphous area and
Vc = the specific volume of pure crystalline area.

This equation can be modified in terms of density as V=1/D

Xm(%)= dc/da*do-da/dc-da*100

where,

dc = the densities of pure crystalline area.
da = the densities of amorphous area.

Density of pure crystalline and pure amorphous areas:

Sr.No	Fibers	Dc(G/Cc)	Da(G/Cc)
1.	Polyethylene	1.000	0.852
2.	Polypropylene	0.937	0.854
3.	Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate)	1.455	1.335
4.	Poly(Butylene Terephthalate)	1.396	1.280
5.	Polyamide 6	1.230	1.089
6.	Polyamide 6.6	1.220	1.069

Liquids used in Density Gradient Column:

Sr.No	Liquid	Density(gm/m)
1.	Ethanol	0.79
2.	Isopropanal	0.79
3.	Methanol	0.80
4.	Xylene	0.86
5.	Toluene	0.87
6.	Benzyl Alcohol	0.92
7.	Water	1.00
8.	Diethylene Glycol	1.11
9.	Sodium Bromide	1.41
10.	Carbon Tetrachloride	1.59
11.	Calcium Nitrate	1.60
12.	1,3-Dibromopropane	1.99
13.	Ethylene Bromide	2.18
14.	Bromoform	2.89

Crystal structure of cellulose:

Sr.No	Cellulose	Alfa	Beta	C	Beta
1.	Cellulose i	8.35	10.3	7.9	84
2.	Cellulose ii	8.10	10.3	9.1	62
3.	Cellulose iii	7.74	10.3	9.9	58
4.	Cellulose iv	8.11	10.3	7.9	90
5.	Types Of Bond	Hydrogen	Co-Valent Vander Walls
6.	Stability(Kcal/Mole)	15	50	08

Formation of hydrates by different alkalies:

Sr.No	Types Of Hydrates	Hydrodynamic Diameter(Mm)	Concentration Of
			NaOH (%)	KOH (%)	LiOH (%)
1.	Dipole Hydrate	0.5-0.8	30-70%	40-75%	20-60%
2.	Solvated Dipole Hydrate	0.8-1.0	16-30%	30-40%	9-20%
3.	Hydrated Ion Pair	1.0-1.5	6-15%	7-30%	5-6%

Staple length of Commercial Cotton:

Sr.No	Commercial Cotton	Staple Length
1.	Sea Island Cotton	Around 5 cm
2.	Egyptian Cotton	Between 3.7-4.5 cm
3.	Brazilian Cotton	Between 3-4 cm
4.	American Cotton	Between 2.5-3.5 cm
5.	Indian Cotton	Between 2-3 cm
6.	China Cotton	Between 1.5-2 cm Only

Chemical composition of Dry Cotton:

Sr.No	Chemicals	Composition (%)
1.	Cellulose	88-97%
2.	Protein	1-2%
3.	Oil And Wax	0.4-1.5%
4.	Pectins	0.4-1.5%
5.	Minerals	0.7-1.6%
6.	Others	0.5-8.0%

Chemical composition of important Vegetable Fibers:

Sr.No	Fibers	Cellulose	Hemicellulose	Lignin	Pectin	Wax	Ash	Others
1.	1.Seed Hair Fibers: Cotton Kapok	93.0 64.0	2.6 23.0	13.0	0.9 23.0	0.6	1.2	1.7
2.	Bast Fibers: Jute Flax Hemp Ramie	71.5 71.2 74.4 76.2	13.3 18.6 17.9 14.6	13.1 2.2 3.7 0.7	0.2 2.0 0.8 2.1	0.6 2.3 0.8 0.3	1.0 1.3	0.3 2.6 2.3 6.1
3.	Leaf Fibers: Sisal Pineapple /Manila Hemp	73.1 70.2	13.3 21.8	11.0 5.7	0.9 0.6	0.3 0.2		1.4 1.5
4.	Husk Fibers: Coir	44.2	0.8	45.8	4.0			5.2

RETTING OF FIBERS:

Duration of retting of JUTE FIBERS:

Sr.No	Process	Duration
1.	Dew Retting	7-15 Days
2.	Stagnant Water Retting	10-20 Days
3.	Running Water Retting	22-30 Days
4.	Chemical Retting	6-8 Days

Duration of retting of FLAX FIBERS:

Sr.No	Process	Duration
1.	Dew Retting	10-20 Days
2.	Stagnant Water Retting	30-40 Days
3.	Running Water Retting	20-30 Days

Composition of proteins in different Fibers:

Sr.No	Proteins	Composition(%)
1.	Carbon	45-55%
2.	Hydrogen	6-8%
3.	Oxygen	19-30%
4.	Nitrogen	15-20%
5.	Others	0-5%

SILK FIBER:

Different chemicals in Silk:

Sr.No		Mulberry Silk	Tassar Silk	Muga Silk	Eri Silk
1.	Fibroin	70-80%	80-90%	80-90%	80-90%
2.	Sericine	20-30%	8-10%	8-10%	4-5%
3.	Other	2-3%	3-5%	3-9%	3-5%

Both Fibroin and Sericine contain similar type of amino acids. The compositions of C, H, N, O varies little between fibrons and sericines.

Sr.No		Fibers(%)	Sericine(%)
1.	C	47.6%	46.5%
2.	H	6.4%	6.0%
3.	N	18.3%	16.5%
4.	O	27.7%	31.0%

FIBROIN:
The fibroin i.e the main part of silk is made up series of different amino acids. The most important is SERICINE, ALANINE and GLYCINE. The important acids are:

Sr.No		%
1.	Glycine	36.8%
2.	Alanine	22.2%
3.	Serine	11.4%
4.	Tyrosine	11.1%
5.	Leucine	1.5%
6.	Proline	1.0%
7.	Valine	2.7%
8.	Phenytalanine	1.5%
9.	Histidine	0.1%
10.	Lysine	0.2%
11.	Threonine	1.3%
12.	Arginine	0.9%

The approximate composition of different amino acid in fibroin from wild silks are as follow:

Sr.No		%
1.	Glycine	20-30%
2.	Alanine	35-40%
3.	Serine	10-15%
4.	Tyrosine	8-10%
5.	Arginine	9-13%
6.	Threonine	5-10%
7.	Lysine	5-7%

SERCINE:

Sr.No		Mulberry Silk	Wild Silk
1.	Lysine	20-30%	20-30%
2.	Serine	16-20%	7-16%
3.	Glycine	8-10%	10-20%
4.	Aspartic Acid	8-12%	7-10%
5.	Glumatic Acid		4-6%
6.	Arginine		5-15%
7.	Threonine	4-6%	3-10%
8.	Histidine	4-6%	3-6%
9.	Tyrosine		4-6%

TEXTILE FIBER DENSITIES:

Sr.No	Textile Fibers	Fiber Densities (g/cm³)
1.	Cotton	1.54
2.	Flax	1.50
3.	Jute	1.50
4.	Wool	1.30
5.	Silk	1.60
6.	Polyester	1.22
7.	Viscose	1.53
8.	Cuprammonium	1.53
9.	Polyurethane	1.15
10.	Polypropylene	0.90
11.	Polyethylene	0.92
12.	Nylon 6	1.13
13.	Nylon 66	1.14
14.	Acrylic	1.14-1.17
15.	Polyvinyl Alcohol	1.30