The first idea of what fibers are, we get at school in biology lessons. In a broad sense, expressing a more general essence in relation to the particular, this concept represents a class of materials consisting of threads or cells.
Muscle fiber is a structural unit of muscle tissue, which is a multinucleated cell, which consists of a large number of other cells that can be of plant, animal, mineral or artificial origin.
Old Church Slavonic
The origin of the word "fiber" is associated with the Old Slavonic "Vlakno". This word exists in modern Bulgarian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian languages. With a slight phonetic difference, it is found in Polish - wlOkno. There is a related concept in ancient Indian: valkas, which means "bast".
In Russian, this lexical unit has undergone changes as a result of vowel alternation: OLO-LA. Since "fiber" is a dictionary word, its spelling must be memorized.
To get an idea of what fibers are as a material classification, let's take a closer look at their types.
Cotton and bast
To vegetable fibersorigins include bast and cotton. Thin threads of cotton cover cotton seeds. They consist mainly (94%) of cellulose, and the rest is water, pectins, fat-containing, waxy, ash substances (mineral nutrients taken by the plant from the soil).
You can understand what cotton fibers are by examining them under a microscope. We will see a flat twisted ribbon with a tubule filled with air.
These threads are hygroscopic, heat-resistant, have high strength in relation to the action of alkalis. If cotton is set on fire, it will smell like burnt paper.
Negative qualities include low elasticity and instability to the action of acids.
Bad fibers are obtained from the stem of flax. They are elongated cells with pointed ends. In cross section they have the shape of a pentahedron. A larger percentage of the composition is cellulose (80%), and the remaining percentages are fatty, coloring, waxy mineral impurities and lignin. The presence of lignin gives increased strength. High thermal conductivity keeps linen cool to the touch.
Animal fibers
Goat, sheep, camel and other wool, as well as natural silk are animal fibers, consisting of three layers: the outer scaly, the main cortical layer and the core, which is located in the center of the thread.
There are 4 types of wool fibers:
- twisted thin - fluff;
- intermediate hair - the middle between down and awn;
- rough and slightly crimped - awn;
- short brittle fiber - dead hair.
Depending on the types of thread, there are also types of wool: from fine, which is used to make high-quality woolen products, to coarse, used to make cloth and felt. Wool is able to retain heat and is hygroscopic. When it burns, the smell of a burnt feather appears.
The lightest natural fiber is silk. Get it from the cocoon of a silkworm caterpillar.
Two proteins - fibroin and sericin - are part of the cocoon thread. Natural silk is characterized by softness, smoothness, high hygroscopicity, low wrinkling. The disadvantages are the high shrinkage of the twisted thread and low heat resistance. Silk is the most valuable raw material for making light summer clothes.
Synthetic threads
What are fibers of synthetic origin can be understood by studying their nature. They are produced through chemical synthesis from monomers, that is, low molecular weight substances. As a result, synthetic polymers are formed. The raw materials for nylon, lavsan, acrylic, crimplene, acetate silk are products of coal, oil and gas processing. These fibers have high tenacity, low creasing and shrinkage, but are not hygroscopic.
The variety of properties of polymers, the ability to vary them, as well as the availability of raw materials are incentives for the development of the production of synthetic fibers.
Chemical fibers
Themobtained by processing such synthetic substances as polyamides, polyesters, as well as natural materials: cellulose, proteins, casein and others. The raw materials for obtaining these fibers are cotton waste, various metals, glass, oil products, coal.
Viscose is one of the first fibers of chemical origin to be commercialized. It is obtained by treating wood pulp with chemicals.
One of the main disadvantages of viscose fiber is high wrinkling. To reduce this quality, it is subjected to a process of chemical modification. The result is a polynose fiber that resembles fine-staple cotton.
