Cotton Fiber Properties

Who doesn't like to wear cotton?. It is true that the invention of manmade fibers made the cotton industry suffer a little, but it is back in the lead again. People are trying to go green and its comfirtability cannot be compromised with atrificial fibers. Cotton is a natural fiber and its tradition go back to centuries. Application of cotton fibers/fabrics are many and it is determined by the properties of the fibers.

Cotton plant belong to the family "Malvaceae" [Genus - Gossypium] and it can grow up to 9ft high. The seeds are contained in the boll and is surrounded by fibers. These fibers are graded based on their length, uniformity, strength, maturuty, color and foreign matters. Properties of cotton fibers are as follow;
  • Staple Length            : 1/8 - 2.5 inch
  • Dry Tenacity             : 3.00 - 4.90 grams/denier
  • Wet Tenacity            : 3.30 - 6.70 grams/denier
  • Density                     : 1.54 grams/cc
  • Breaking Elongation  : 3 - 9.5%
  • Moisture Regain       : 7%
  • Average Toughness  : 0.16 gf.cm/den.cm
  • Elastic Recovery       : 74% after 2% elongation
  • Identification :
    • Fiber leaves fine gray ash and no bead after agnition. Burns/smells like paper with amber or yellow flame. 
    • Single elongated cell with apperance as flat and spirally twisted ribbon like form with convolutions. But mercerized cotton does not show the natural twist.
    • Dissolves in 80% cold sulfuric acid.
    • Cotton feels cool to touch.
  • Heat: Decompose @ 550 F, Safe ironing @ 425 F
  • Acids: Disintegrated with cold concentrated acids of hot dilute weak acids.
  • Can be blended with almost all fibers.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nano Fibers: An example of complex engineering

I was reading about the conference that is about to happen in Raleigh, NC from Aug 30 to Sep 1, 2010.  This conference is named as " Nano Fibers for the Third Millennium" and is organized by Elamrco Inc and NCSU. Elmarco Inc is a manufacurer of customized industrial solutions for the semi conductor industry. The company in combiation with Technical University of Liberec (TUL) introduced the first prototype of NanoSpider TM to manufacture organic or inorganic nano fibers. During the conference, oral presentations and poster presentations related to nano fibers will be conducted. NanoSpider TM technology is a patented technology and is an electro spinning method of producing nano fibers. As you know, nano fibers are highy engineered fiber with diameter 200 times lesser than human hair. Some advantages of fabric made of nano fibers includes the following Low density Greater surface area Less pore size High porosity Good breathability With NanoSpider TM  technology, i...
Read more

Trabecular Metal Implants

Trabecular Metal is a bio-material composed of tantalum(Ta) on a graphic scaffold. Tantalum is one of the most bio compatible material known to man. This bio-material is developed and patented by Implex Corporation which is now taken over by Zimmer. Inc.[ ZMH ].Cellular structure of Trabecular metal resembles very close to Trabecular bone, a type of bone found in the joints, that is why this material got its name as "Trabecular". Understanding the behavior of material is very important in developing and engineering its products. Trabecular materials are physically and mechanically more similar to human bones than any other bio implants. These implants has more porosity and flexibility that allows the infiltration of bone growth into its pores. Because of it, the bond between Trabecular metal implant and bone is as good as the bond between human bone and ligaments. More over the elastic modulus of this implant is lower (around 3 Gpa)  than most metal impla...
Read more