Properties of Vegetable/Plant/Cellulosic fibres
Chemically, cotton is the purest vegetable fibre, containing >90% cellulose with little or no lignin.
Vegetable/Cellulosic Fiber Properties
Chemically, cotton is the purest vegetable fiber, containing >90% cellulose with little or no lignin. The other fibers contain 40–75% cellulose, depending on processing.
Boiled and bleached flax and degummed ramie may contain >95% cellulose.
Kenaf and jute contain higher contents of lignin, which contributes to their stiffness. Although the cellulose contents are fairly uniform, the other components, eg, hemicelluloses, pectins, extractives, and lignin vary widely without an obvious pattern. These differences may characterize specific fibers.
Except for the seed-hair fibers, the vegetable fibers of bast or leaf origins are multicelled and are used as strands.
In contrast to the bast fibers, leaf fibers are not readily broken down into their ultimate cells. The ultimate cells are composites of microfibrils, which, in turn, are comprised of groups of parallel cellulose chains.
Bast and leaf fibers are stronger (higher tensile strength and modulus of elasticity) but lower in elongation (extensibility) than cotton. Vegetable fibers are stiffer but less tough than synthetic fibers. Kapok and coir are relatively low in strength; kapok is known for its buoyancy.
Types of textile fibers – list of textile fibers by its sources
A comprehensive textile fabric names by fiber sources
Chemical Composition of Vegetable Fibers, wt %
| Fiber | Cellulose | Semicellulose | Pectin | Lignin | Extractives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bast Fibers | |||||
| Flax | 71.2 | 18.6 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 6.0 |
| Hemp | 74.9 | 17.9 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 3.1 |
| Jute | 71.5 | 13.4 | 0.2 | 13.1 | 1.8 |
| Kenaf | 63.0 | 18.0 | – | 17.0 | 2.0 |
| Ramie | 76.2 | 14.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 6.4 |
Leaf Fibers | |||||
| Abaca | 70.1 | 21.8 | 0.6 | 5.7 | 1.8 |
| Phormium | 71.3 | – | – | – | – |
| Sisal | 73.1 | 13.3 | 0.9 | 11.0 | 1.6 |
Seed-hair Fibers | |||||
| Coir | 43.0 | 0.1 | – | 45.0 | – |
| Cotton | 92.9 | 2.6 | 2.6 | – | 1.9 |
| Kapok | 64.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | 13.0 | – |
Dimensions of Ultimate Fibers and Strands
| Ultimate fiber | Cell cross-section | Fiber strand | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiber | Length,mm | Diameter,µm | Shape | Diameter,µm | Length,cm | Width,mm |
Bast Fibers | ||||||
| Chinese Jute | 2-6.5 | 7.33 | ||||
| Flax | 4-69 | 8-31 | Polygonal | 8.8-16.1 | 25-120 | 0.04-0.62 |
| Hemp | 5-55 | 16 | Polygonal | 13.1-23.6 | 100-400 | 0.5-5 |
| Jute | 0.7-6 | 15-25 | Polygonal-Oval | 12.3-18.6 | 150-360 | |
| Kenaf | 2-11 | 13-33 | Cylindrical | 200-400 | ||
| Ramie | 60-250 | 16-120 | Hexagonal-Oval | 6.2-32.4 | 10-180 | |
| Sunn | 2-11 | 13-64 | Irregular | 13.6-24.6 | 108-216 | |
| Nettle | 4-70 | 20-70 | 50-50 | |||
Leaf Fibers | ||||||
| Abaca | 2-12 | 6-40 | Oval-Round | 14-20 | 150-360 | 0.01-0.28 |
| Cantala | 13.8-16.4 | |||||
| Caroa | 2-10 | 3-13 | 3.2-8.2 | |||
| Henequen | 1.5-4 | 8.3-33.2 | 11.6-22.2 | |||
| Istle | 9.6-16 | 1.2-13.4 | 30-75 | |||
| Mauritius | 1.3-6 | 15-32 | Cylindrical | 124-210 | ||
| Phormium | 2-11 | 5-25 | Round | 10-3-12.5 | 150-240 | |
| Sansevieria | 1-7 | 13-40 | ||||
| Sisal | 0.8-7.5 | 8-48 | Cylindrical | 11-16 | 60-120 | 0.1-0.5 |
Seed-hair Fibers | ||||||
| Coir | 0.2-1 | 6.24 | 1 | |||
| Cotton | 10-50 | 12-25 | Circular Elliptical | 1.5-5.6 | 0.012-0.025 | |
| Kapok | 15-30 | 10-30 | Round | 1.5-3 | 0.03-0.036 | |
Other Fibers | ||||||
| Broom Root | Others | 25-40 | ||||
Mechanical Properties of Vegetable Fibers
| Fiber | Fineness km/kg | Tensile Strength, km | Elongation % | Modulus of Elasticity, N/tex | Modulus of repture, mN/tex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bast (soft) fibers | |||||
| Flax | 2470 | 2-3 | 18-20 | 8-9 | |
| Hemp | 139 | 38-62 | 1-6 | 18-22 | 6-9 |
| Jute | 489 | 25-53 | 1.5 | 17-18 | 2.7-3 |
| Kenaf | 180 | 24 | 2.7 | ||
| Ramie | 32-67 | 4.0 | 14-16 | 11 | |
| Urena | 342 | 16 | 1.9 | ||
Leaf (hard) fibers | |||||
| Abaca | 32 | 32-69 | 2-4.5 | 6 | |
| Cantala | 58 | 30 | |||
| Henequen | 32 | 20-42 | 3.5-5 | ||
| Istle | 34 | 22-27 | 4.8 | ||
| Phormium | 38 | 26 | |||
| Sansevieria | 118 | 43 | 4.0 | ||
| Sisal | 40 | 36-45 | 2-3 | 25-26 | 7-8 |
Seed (hard) fibers | |||||
| Coir | 18 | 16 | 4.3 | 16 | |
| Kapok | 16-30 | 1.2 | 13 | 10 | |
To convert N/tex to gf/den, multiply by 11.33. Check the conversion calculator.
Textile-Associated Properties of Bast Fibers Compared to Polyester
| Property | Cotton | Flax | Hemp | Jute | Ramie | Polyester |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Density g/cm | 1.54-1.50 | 1.50 | 1.48 | 1.50 | 1.51 | 1.22-1.35 |
| Moisture regain, % | 8-11 | 12 | 12 | 13.7 | 6 | 0.4-0.8 |
| Fiber tenacity, mN/tex | 260-440 | 230-240 | 510-600 | 260-510 | 450-653 | 180-790 |
| Elongation, dry, % | 3-10 | 2.7-3.3 | 1.6 | 1.2-1.9 | 3.0-7.0 | 18-67 |
| Recovery from 2% Elongation, % | 75 | 65 | 74 | 52 | 85-97 | |
| Length/width ration | 1400 | 1200 | 3000 |
To convert N/tex to gf/den, multiply by 11.33. Check yarn count converter.
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