FIBRE

Fiber is a rope or string used as a component of composite

materials into sheets to make products such as paper or
felt. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other
materials. The strongest engineering materials are
generally made as fibers, for example carbon fiber and
Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. A fibre is a
material which is several 100 times as long as as its thick.
Synthetic fibers can often be produced very cheaply and in
large amounts compared to natural fibers, but for clothing
natural fibers can give some benefits, such as comfort, over
their synthetic counterparts.

FIBRE CONTENTS

1 Textile fiber
2 Natural fibers
3 Synthetic fibers

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8

Metallic fibers
Carbon Fiber
Silicon carbide fiber
Fiberglass
Mineral fibers
Cellulose fibers
Polymer fibers
Microfibers

1. Textile fiber:
-A unit in which many complicated textile
structures are built up is said to be textile
fiber.
2. Natural fibers:
-Natural fibers include those produced by
plants, animals, and geological processes.
They are biodegradable over time. They
can be classified according to their origin:

Vegetable fibers are generally based on arrangements of

cellulose, often with lignin: examples include cotton,
hemp, jute, flax, ramie, sisal and bagasse. Plant fibers are
employed in the manufacture of paper and textile

(cloth).
-

Wood fiber, distinguished from vegetable fiber, is from tree

sources. Forms include groundwood, thermomechanical
pulp (TMP) and bleached or unbleached kraft or sulfite
pulps. Kraft and sulfite, also called sulphite, refer to the
type of pulping process used to remove the lignin bonding
the original wood structure, thus freeing the fibers for use
in paper and engineered wood products such as fiberboard.

Animal fibers consist largely of particular

proteins. Instances are silkworm silk, spider silk,
sinew, catgut, wool, sea silk and hair such as
cashmere wool, mohair and angora, fur such as
sheepskin, rabbit, mink, fox, beaver, etc.

Mineral fibers include the asbestos group.

Asbestos is the only naturally occurring long
mineral fiber. Six minerals have been classified as
"asbestos" including chrysotile of the serpentine
class and those belonging to the amphibole class:
amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, anthophyllite and
actinolite. Short, fiber-like minerals include
wollastonite and palygorskite.

3. Synthetic fibers
-

Synthetic generally come from synthetic materials such as

petrochemicals but some types of synthetic fibers are
manufactured from natural cellulose, including rayon,
modal, and Lyocell. Cellulose-based fibers are of two types,
regenerated or pure cellulose such as from the cuproammonium process and modified cellulose such as the
cellulose acetates.

- Fiber classification in reinforced plastics falls into two

classes:
(i) short fibers, also known as discontinuous
fibers, with a general aspect ratio (defined as the ratio of
fiber length to diameter) between 20 to 60, and
(ii) long fibers, also known as continuous fibers, the
general aspect ratio is between 200 to 500.

* Metallic fibers
- Metallic fibers can be drawn from ductile
metals such as copper, gold or silver and
extruded or deposited from more brittle
ones, such as nickel, aluminum or iron. See
also Stainless steel fibers.
* Carbon Fiber
- Carbon fibers are often based on oxydized
and via pyrolysis carbonized polymers like
PAN, but the end product is almost pure
carbon.

* Silicon carbide fiber

- Silicon carbide fibers, where the basic
polymers are not hydrocarbons but
polymers, where about 50% of the carbon
atoms are replaced by silicon atoms, socalled poly-carbo-silanes. The pyrolysis
yields an amorphous silicon carbide,
including mostly other elements like
oxygen, titanium, or aluminium, but with
mechanical properties very similar to
those of carbon fibers.

* Fiberglass
- Fiberglass, made from specific glass, and optical
fiber, made from purified natural quartz, are also
man-made fibers that come from natural raw
materials, silica fiber, made from sodium silicate
(water glass) and basalt fiber made from melted
basalt.
* Mineral fibers
- Mineral fibers can be particularly strong because
they are formed with a low number of surface
defects, Asbestos is a common one.

* Cellulose fibers
- Cellulose fibers are a subset of manmade fibers, regenerated from
natural cellulose. The cellulose comes
from various sources. Modal is made
from beech trees, bamboo fiber is a
cellulose fiber made from bamboo,
seacell is made from seaweed.

Polymer fibers
Polymer fibers are a subset of man-made fibers, which are based on
synthetic chemicals (often from petrochemical sources) rather than arising
from natural materials by a purely physical process. These fibers are made
from:

polyamide nylon
PET or PBT polyester
phenol-formaldehyde (PF)
polyvinyl alcohol fiber (PVA) vinylon
polyvinyl chloride fiber (PVC) vinyon
polyolefins (PP and PE) olefin fiber
acrylic polyesters, pure polyester PAN fibers are used to make carbon fiber .
aromatic polyamids (aramids) such as Twaron, Kevlar and Nomex.
polyethylene (PE)
Elastomers can even be used, e.g. spandex
polyurethane fiber

Microfibers
- Microfibers in textiles refer to sub-denier fiber
(such as polyester drawn to 0.5 dn). Denier and
Tex are two measurements of fiber yield based on
weight and length. If the fiber density is known
you also have a fiber diameter, otherwise it is
simpler to measure diameters in micrometers.
Microfibers in technical fibers refer to ultra fine
fibers (glass or meltblown thermoplastics) often
used in filtration.
- Very short and/or irregular fibers have been
called fibrils. Natural cellulose, such as cotton or
bleached kraft, show smaller fibrils jutting out
and away from the main fiber structure.

Major properties of fiber:

1. Mechanical properties:
- Abrasion resistance
- Flexibility
- Stiffness.
2. Absorption properties: Its a measure of quality
of water vapors, liquid water etc.
3. Thermal properties: the behavior of textile in the
presence of heat or exposed to a flame.

COTTON FIBERS

INTRODUCTION
Cotton today is the most used textile fiber in the world. Its
current market share is 56 percent for all fibers used for
apparel and home furnishings and sold in the U.S. Another
contribution is attributed to nonwoven textiles and personal
care items. It is generally recognized that most consumers
prefer cotton personal care items to those containing
synthetic fibers. World textile fiber consumption in 1998
was approximately 45 million tons. Of this total, cotton
represented approximately 20 million tons. The earliest
evidence of using cotton is from India and the date
assigned to this fabric is 3000 B.C.

There were also excavations of cotton fabrics of

comparable age in Southern America. Cotton
cultivation first spread from India to Egypt, China
and the South Pacific. Even though cotton fiber
had been known already in Southern America, the
large-scale cotton cultivation in Northern America
began in the 16th century with the arrival of
colonists to southern parts of today's United
States. The largest rise in cotton production is
connected with the invention of the saw-tooth
cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. With this new
technology, it was possible to produce more
cotton fiber, which resulted in big changes in the
spinning and weaving industry, especially in
England.

COTTON CONSUMPTION
AND PRODUCTION IN
MILLION TONS IN YEAR
2012 :

COUNTRIES

PRODUCTION

CONSUMPTION

US

38

1.7

India

2.5

Pakistan

1.8

1.9

Turkey

0.9

1.4

China

4.8

5.9

Where cotton is grown?

Cotton is a subtropical plant that grows in many warm areas of the world.
It started out as a plant of the tropics but today it is grown in other warm
areas that have at least 200 frost-free days. The most important cottongrowing countries are the USA, China, India, Pakistan and Australia.
China produces about 30% of the worlds cotton fibre, mostly in the
eastern part of the country. In the United States cotton is grown in the
southern states, the biggest cotton producer is Texas.
Cotton needs a hot, sunny climate to grow. The plant needs soil that is
well - drained and a lot of rainfall during the growing season. During the
harvest season it should be sunny and dry. Some areas grow cotton on
irrigated land.
Cotton needs soil that has a lot of nitrogen in it. Farmers use chemical
fertilizers to improve the soil .

Growing and processing cotton

Cotton plants can reach a height of up to 2 meters.

After plowing the soil in spring cotton seeds are planted

in rows by hand or machine. Three weeks after the plants
come out flower buds begin to form. They produce white
flowers that turn red and fall off . The flowers have a
green fruit, called boll, which has seeds in it. White fiber
of different lengths grows around the seeds . Cotton can
be harvested when the boll bursts open and shows the
fibers inside. The longest fibers are up to 6 cm long and are
used for the best cloth . Most fibers, however ,are much
smaller

During the growth period cotton farmers must be careful that

their crop does not get any diseases . They spray insecticides
to keep insects away from the plant. Such insects destroy almost
15 % of the worlds cotton every year. Weeds also do damage to
the cotton plants. They take away moisture that plants need so
much.
Cotton is harvested about 150 to 200 days after farmers plant it.
In industrial countries picking machines drive through the
fields, harvest the cotton and transport it onto a trailer . In the
Third World cotton harvesting is often done by hand.
Gins separate the cotton fiber from the seeds . Cotton is then
combed , dried, cleaned and pressed into bales . Cotton buyers
or brokers buy the raw cotton and then sell it to textile mills .
There, spinning machines spin cotton into yarn . The yarn is
woven into cloth, which is bleached and sometimes dyed .

CHARATERISTICS OF COTTON
Cotton, as a natural cellulosic fiber, has a lot of characteristics,
such as:

Comfortable Soft hand

Good absorbency
Color retention
Prints well
Machine-washable
Dry-cleanable
Good strength
Drapes well
Easy to handle and sew.

END USES OF COTTON:

Apparel - Wide range of wearing apparel:
blouses, shirts, dresses, children's wear,
active wear, separates, swimwear, suits,
jackets, skirts, pants, sweaters, hosiery,
neckwear.
Home Fashion - curtains, draperies,
bedspreads, comforters, throws, sheets,
towels, table cloths, table mats, napkins

FIBER STRUCTURE AND

FORMATION
The botanical name of American Upland
cotton is Gossypium Hirsutum and has
been developed from cottons of Central
America. Upland varieties represent
approximately 97% of U.S. production.

RAW COTTON
COMPOSITION:

Cellulose
Water

80-90%
6-8%

Waxes and fats

0.5 - 1%

Proteins

0 - 1.5%

Hemicelluloses and
pectin
Ash

4 - 6%
1 - 1.8%

REPEAT UNIT OF CELLULOSE :

The current consensus regarding cellulose crystalline (X-ray
diffraction) is that fibers are essentially 100% crystalline and that
very small crystalline units imperfectly packed together cause the
observed disorder.
The density method used to determine cellulose crystalline is
based on the density gradient column, where two solvents of
different densities are partially mixed. Degree of Crystalline is
then determined from the density of the sample, while densities of
crystalline and amorphous cellulose forms are known (1.505 and
1.556 respectively). Orientation of untreated cotton fiber is poor
because the crystallites are contained in the micro fibrils of the
secondary wall, oriented in the steep spiral (25-30o) to the fiber
axis.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COTTON

FIBER LENGTH : It is described as the average length of
the longer one-half of the fibers. This measure is taken by
scanning a "beard " of parallel fibers through a sensing
region. The beard is formed from the fibers taken from the
sample, clasped in a holding clamp and combed to align the
fibers. Typical lengths of Upland cottons might range from
0.79 to 1.36 inch.
LENGTH UNIFORMITY: Length uniformity ratio is
determined as a ratio between the mean length and the
upper half mean length of the fibers and is expressed as a
percentage.

Chemical structure and properties

of cotton

Highly crystalline cellulose has been shown to

decompose at higher temperatures, for instance
380 C. Blocking the primary hydroxyl groups of
cellulose prevents depolymerization, thus
reducing production of volatiles. The reduction of
flammable gases is accompanied by more
complete intra-ring and inter-ring dehydration,
giving rise to keto-enol tautomers and ethermic
linkages, respectively. The carbonyl groups so
formed can participate in a variety of reactions,
leading to cross-linking, thus increasing char
formation as well as carbon dioxide.

Fiber development

Fiber structures during cell growth:

The structure of cotton fibers has been mainly from

investigation of the matured fibers in their dried state.
Although the biochemical nature of cotton cell structure,
particularly during early cell growth, has been extensively
studied, the development macrostructure of the main
constituent of the fiber, cellulose, is not as well understood.
Cotton fibers are the largest (longest) single cells in nature.
The fibers are single-celled outgrowths from individual
epidermal cells on the outer integument of the ovules in the
cotton fruit. The primary cell walls continue to elongate
until reaching the final fiber lengths of 22 to 35 mm inabout
20 to 25 days. This primary cell wall is very thin (0.2 to 0.4
mm) and extensible. Secondary wall synthesis starts
around 15 to 22 days past anthesis and continues for 30 to
40 days. The cellulose formation is about 130 ng/mm.

Twist and convolution

The formation of twists or convolution occurs when the fully

hydrated cylindrical fibers collapse from the loss of fluids
and drying upon maturation and boll opening or as
previously shown during light microscopy observation. on
developing SJ-2 fibers, typical twists were observed on 28dpa fibers whereas 21 dpa fibers tend to roll and fold onto
themselves. The lateral dimensions of convoluted fibers are
characterized by their ribbon or fiber width and twist
thickness. The fiber widths decrease from drying. The twist
thicknesses increase with fiber development, from 6.5 mm
at 21 dpa to 10.5 mm at 40 dpa and maturity. The twist
frequency or the lengths between twists have been found
to be highly irregular along an individual fiber as well as
among fibers.

Cotton fiber quality

Measures of cotton fiber quality may be described

by any of, or in relation to, the chemical and
physical properties. The reason for attributing
value to cotton is to gain premiums from the
market on the basis of that cottons suitability for
particular end uses. In fact it can be said that
cotton fibre quality is the utility particular cotton
achieves in the textile processes involved in its
conversion to the final product. Traditionally, the
most desirable cotton (Gossypium spp.) is said to
be as white as snow, as strong as steel, as fine as
silk and as long as wool.

Short fiber content:

The most common definition of short fiber content (SFC) is

the proportion by weight of fiber shorter than one half inch
(12.7 mm). The value is of concern to textile manufacturers
because it relates directly to the amount of waste extracted
in combing and cotton with high values has a detrimental
effect on the quality of yarn. Short fiber content measured
by the HVI is referred to as short fiber index (SFI) and is
the most widely used value to describe SFC in a sample,
even though short fibers are not actually measured directly
by the HVI Fibro graph, nor can the instrument be
calibrated. Typical SFI values vary from 412% in ginned
lint and are much lower in un-ginned lint. Precision is
generally poor by comparison with test methods for other
properties.

Measurement of fiber maturity:

It is easy to define fiber maturity, measurement is more

difficult. Limitations of the test methods currently available
are slow test times making large numbers of measurements
impractical and/or the test methods measure fiber
parameters not solely related to fiber maturity, e.g.
Micromere measures specific surface area by the air
pressure differential across a weighed plug of randomly
distributed fibers. Maturity can also be expressed as the
absolute wall thickness or wall area measured directly from
microscope images of transverse sections. However,
because average wall thickness tends to increase with
increasing perimeter, it is an unsuitable measure for
comparing levels of maturity between different cottons.
Moreover, the process of sectioning cotton fibers and
measuring their cross-sectional area is a process fraught
with experimental and sampling type.

Measurement of fiber fineness:

The Micromere is the most widely used test method for

obtaining estimates of cotton fiber fineness. The test
measures the resistance offered by a weighed plug of fibers
to a metered airflow. The test was incorporated into HVI
lines from the beginning of their development and has been
changed to improve test time and precision from the earlier
laboratory bench-top instrument of the late 1940s, which
took a couple of minutes to measure a well blended and
conditioned sample of 50grains (3.24 grams) in weight. The
HVI version now takes a 10 gram sample of raw, unblended
but conditioned fiber from the bale sample and completes
the test in seconds. The scale on the Micronaire is marked
in micrograms per inch, which is based on an observed
linear relationship between air permeability and linear
density for a range of cotton samples of similar maturity.

The Economics of Roller Ginning

Technology and Implications for
African Cotton Sector
This study undertaken after the completion of the

comparative analysis of organization and performance of

cotton sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is published by
the World Bank in 2008. The objective of this
complementary study is to assess the advantages and
disadvantages of the main available technologies to
separate the lint from the raw cotton roller ginning and
saw ginning and carry out an economic analysis of the
respective benefits of these two technologies for cotton
producing countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. The study
documents the history and current state of cotton ginning
technology throughout the world, provides a basic
description of the main technologies used, their recent
developments and gives an overview of the ginning
process.

It examines and compares the performance of roller and

saw technologies in terms of investment and processing
costs, operational requirements, quality and prices of lint.
It assesses the relevance of roller ginning for Sub-Saharan
countries, particularly for West and Central African
countries, and discusses the incidence that the use of this
technology could have on the future competitiveness of
cotton sectors. The study shows that the choice of ginning
technology is an important factor of performance and is in
turn influenced by the cotton sector structure. The type
of ginning technology also has an impact on lint quality,
and, as roller ginning is less damaging to the fiber than saw
ginning, it can generate a price premium.

The overall economic advantage of roller gins vs.

saw gins appears to be significant in the SubSaharan African context and likely to increase in
the future as the demand for quality is becoming
more and more stringent. Thus, although there
are technical and organizational issues to address
in order to fully capture the benefits of the
technology, the introduction of roller ginning is
likely to improve the competitiveness of African
cotton and facilitate the transition towards more
competitive cotton sectors.

GENETIC STUDIES OF FIBER

QUALITY CHARACTERS IN
UPLAND COTTON

Five upland cotton cultivars were crossed in a

complete dialed crossing system to investigate
inheritance pattern and combining ability of
parents for different fiber quality traits like staple
length, fiber strength, fineness and uniformity.
The study was carried out in the Department of
Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of
Agriculture, Faisalabad during the years 2005-07.
Highly significant differences were found among
the genotypes for all the traits under study.
Genetic analysis of the data also revealed highly
significant effects due to general as well as
specific combining ability (P 0.01) for all the
fiber quality characters.

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is the most important

fiber crop in the world, and in Pakistan it is the mainstay of
the economy. Cotton is the main source of foreign
exchange earnings and brings about 65 % of the total
annual earning from the export of raw cotton material and
the finished products. The crop not only meets the needs of
fiber requirements of local industry but also provides food
in the form of edible oil. Due to immense importance of
cotton crop in the countrys economy, the cotton breeders
made great strides for improving cotton plant utilizing
available genetic resources which resulted in numerous
high yielding cultivars with better fiber quality traits. But
due to the increasing consumption of fiber, there is need to
further speed up efforts for continued genetic improvement
in cotton plant for yield and fiber quality traits.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

- Genetic material.
- Green house experiment.
- Field experiment.
- Laboratory testing.
- Statistical analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the present investigations, data on four fiber

quality characters i.e. staple length, fiber fineness, fiber
strength and fiber uniformity were subjected to analysis
of variance. Highly significant differences (P 0.01)
were found among the genotypes for all the traits.
Significant mean squares for each of the characters
allowed the use of Griffings approach (1956) to study
the magnitude of variance due to the effects of combining
abilities of the parents and inheritance pattern of various
fiber traits. Genetic analysis of the data revealed highly
significant effects due to general and specific combining
ability (P 0.01) for all the fiber quality characters.

The reciprocal effects were non-significant for staple

length, fiber strength and fiber fineness while fiber
uniformity, demonstrated significant reciprocal effects. The
magnitude of genetic variance due to specific combining
ability appeared to be greater than that of general
combining ability for staple length, fiber strength, fiber
fineness and fiber uniformity respectively resulting in the
magnitude of variance due to dominance was greater than
that of additive effects. These results revealed that staple
length, fiber strength, fiber fineness and fiber uniformity
were conditioned largely by non-additive gene effects as
the magnitude of dominance variance was greater than
additive variance for all the characters suggesting the
occurrence of heterosis. Thus based on this information,
the present genetic material may be utilized for exploitation
of hybrid vigor through the development of hybrid seed for
the characters.

Year

Cotton Consumption in
Bangladesh

2012/13
2013/14

Production
ton
23455
26182

Land used
Hactre
40000
45000

Consumption Fabric produced

ton
meter
980000
1080000

6.4 billion
6.6 billion

Cotton is the second important cash crop in Bangladesh after Jute.

Bangladesh Cotton Development Board (CDB) conducts adoptive fields trails
of cotton varieties/hybrids and also responsible for providing extension
services to the cotton farmers.
Short staple upland cotton locally known as Comilla cotton.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

AFIS Advanced Fiber Information System (Uster Technologies AG)

ARS Agricultural Research Service (USDA)
BCGA British Cotton Growers Association
BPH Bales per Hour
CFC Common Fund for Commodities
CFDT Compagnie Franaise pour le Dveloppement des Fibres Textiles
CFR (C+F) Cost and Freight
CIS Community of Independent States
cts/lb Cents per Pound
DR Double Roller
ELS Extra Long Staple
ESA East and Southern Africa
est. Estimated
EXW Ex-works
G. Gossypium
G&P Ginning and pressing
GM Genetically Modified
GOT Ginning outturn ratio
GPT Gram per Tex
HD High density
hp Horsepower
HS High Speed
HVI High Volume Instrument

ICAC International Cotton Advisory Committee

kg Kilogram
ksh kg of lint per saw per hour
kWh KiloWatt per hour
lb Pound
L/C Lint cleaner
LS Long Staple
M Middling
mm Millimeter
NM New Mexico
t Metric ton
N/A Non available
Ne English yarn count
RG Roller Gin
Rp Rupee
rpm Revolutions per minute
SCCL Sudan Cotton Company Ltd
SCF Seed coat fragment
SFC Short fiber content
SG Saw Gin

SITC Standardized Instrument for Testing of Cotton

SJV San Joachin Valley (California)
SLM Strict Low Middling
SM Strict Middling
sqm Square meter
SR Single Roller
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
TCB Tanzanian Cotton Board
UD Universal Density
UHML Upper High Mean Length
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USDA United States Department of Agriculture
US$ U.S. dollar
WACIP West African Cotton Improvement Program (USAID)
WCA West and Central Africa

Thanks to all.
A.k.m. Tahjibur Rahman
Lecturer buft;shantamarium
university
Cell :01711046722
E mail:[email protected]