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Natural fibers are also used in composite materials, much like synthetic or glass fibers. These composites, called biocomposites, are a natural fiber in a matrix of synthetic polymers. [ 1 ] One of the first biofiber-reinforced plastics in use was a cellulose fiber in phenolics in 1908. [ 1 ]
Fiber (also spelled fibre in British English; from Latin: fibra) [1] is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. [2] Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate fibers, for example carbon fiber and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.
Textile fibres or textile fibers (see spelling differences) can be created from many natural sources (animal hair or fur, cocoons as with silk worm cocoons), as well as semisynthetic methods that use naturally occurring polymers, and synthetic methods that use polymer-based materials, and even minerals such as metals to make foils and wires.
Animal fibers are natural fibers that consist largely of certain proteins. Examples include silk, hair/fur (including wool) and feathers. The animal fibers used most commonly both in the manufacturing world as well as by the hand spinners are wool from domestic sheep and silk. Also very popular are alpaca fiber and mohair from Angora goats.
Rayon is a classified as a semi-synthetic fiber, made with natural polymers. Monomers are the building blocks of polymers. Polymers in fibers are of two types: additive or condensation. Natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, have a condensation polymer type, whereas synthetic fibers can have either an additive or a condensation polymer type.
Natural and synthetic fibers used to make products such as textiles, rope, thread and paper. Natural fibers are an integral part of the cytoskeleton of cells and are also found in abundance in the extracellular matrix .
The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will increase the dispersal of the seeds. The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, Egypt and India.
Flax fibers taken from the stem of the plant are two to three times as strong as cotton fibers. Additionally, flax fibers are naturally smooth and straight. Europe and North America both depended on flax for plant-based cloth until the 19th century, when cotton overtook flax as the most common plant for making rag-based paper.