STUDY OF CELLULOSIC

FIBERS (COTTON)
MOHAMMAD RAZA MIAH(PH.D.)
DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING IN MATERIALS PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
UNIVERSITY OF CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (UCAS)
 COTTON FIBER

• Cotton fiber:
Cotton is called the king of fiber. It is a soft, fluffy, vegetable staple fiber. It grows in a ball around the seeds of the
cotton plant. It combines strength with good absorbency. That’s why it’s used to produce durable as well as
comfortable fabric and apparel.
• Why cotton fiber is called cellulosic fiber?
• After scouring and bleaching, cotton is 99% cellulose. Cellulose is a macromolecule –– a polymer made up of a
long chain of glucose molecules linked by C-1 to C-4 oxygen bridges with elimination of water (glycoside bonds).
 COTTON FIBER…

• History Of Cotton:
• In the 18th century, modern cotton production had begun in England. After that cotton rapidly spread out the
United States. Today it has a vast production and contribution to international trade. Today, Cotton is called
the backbone of the world’s textile industry.
• In the 20th century, cotton considers the most important textile fiber. Cause it has excellent fibrous
properties to produce a major fiber and fabric for textile applications.
 CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON FIBER

I. Classification of cotton according to the basis of region

 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION
• Classify cotton according to the basis of region. In
addition, the global organic cotton fiber classification
mapping picture.

Figure: Global organic cotton fiber classification mapping.

 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
a) Sea Island Cotton:
Sea island cotton is the most valuable commercial cotton. It comes originally from Barbados. It
is a long, fine, soft, and silky natural fiber.
Properties of Sea Island Cotton are:
• Length:The avg. length of these fibers is about 2 inches (51mm)
• Diameter: 1/1500 Inc (01.17mm)
• Specific Gravity: 1.5 gmcm3
Figure: Sea Island cotton.
• Very good Luster, Uniformly, maturity twist, and softness.
This cotton is in length or twist. The color is off it is a light creamy tint. The staple length is
near 5 cm. Sea Island cotton grows especially on the coast area, where the climates are
favorable. Especially the Gulf of Florida, Barbados, and other adjacent Islands.
 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
b) Egyptian Cotton:
Egyptian Cotton fibers are long, fine, soft, and silky similar to Sea Island cotton with slight inferior qualities.
Egyptian cotton is available in Middle East countries, especially in Egypt. There are 2 kinds of Egyptian cotton:
a. brown Egyptian cotton and b. white Egyptian cotton. The staple length of these cotton fibers between 3.7-
4.5 cm.
Properties of Egyptian Cotton:
• Cotton fiber length: 1.5-1.75 inch (38-44mm)
• Very good infirmity
• It contains a few immature and dead fibers.
• The diameter is 1/1500inch (01.017 mm)
• Specific gravity: 1.5 gm/cm3
Figure: Egyptian cotton.
Over 3 centuries, Egyptian cotton has established a reputation of being the best cotton in the world. Because
of its softness, strength, and superior characteristics, Egyptian cotton has been achieved as the world’s finest
cotton.
 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
c) South American Cotton:
South American cotton is grown in the south of North America. The staple length
of South American cotton fiber is between 2.5 to 3.5 cm.
Properties of South American Cotton:
• Staple Length is 1-1.5 (25-38mm).
• Diameter of 1/1300 inch.
• It is very suitable for using others regenerated fibers. Figure: South American Cotton.
South American cotton has been cultivated in major textile-producing countries,
like Brazil, Colombia Peru, and so on. Peru is one of the biggest South American
clothing exporters by using resources of south American cotton.
 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
d) American Upland Cotton:
This variety is from Gossypium Hirsutum is generally known as upland cotton.
Most American cotton belongs to this group. The staple cotton fiber length of
American Pima cotton is from 9/8 to 3/2 inches (27-36mm) and the fiber is fine,
strong, lustrous, silky, and creamy-brown in color.
Basically, American upland cotton is used for sewing thread. Although a small
amount of it is used in the high-quality broad fabric. Fabrics made from American Figure: American Upland Cotton.
cotton are silky, smoothness, softness, and luster are desired.
 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
e) Indian Cotton:
Indian Cotton is produced and available in India. Generally, Indian Cotton is poorly
graded with lower staple and coarser diameter. This cotton is generally white in
color. It has short fiber, length is 0.6- 0.8 inches. It is only suitable for producing
coarse yarn.

Figure: Indian Cotton.

 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
f) China Cotton:
It is generally available in China only. China cotton is the lowest grade
commercial cotton. Length is 0.5-0.7 inches. Natural twist (convolution) is
not highly developed and rather harsh.

Figure: China Cotton.

 I. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE BASIS OF REGION…
• You may have a clear idea of the classification of cotton fiber of China cotton from the following table. Let’s have a look
at the cotton classification table:
Origins of Cotton Fiber Length Diameter (mm) Micronaire (MIC) Spinning Limit (Ne)

Sea-Land Cotton 49-50 0.016 3.0-3.2 200

Egyptian 38-44 0.017 3.0-3.2 200
American Cotton 25.4-38 0.018 3.2-3.5 70
CIS 25.4-33 0.020 3.4-3.8 70
Indian Cotton 20-5.30 0.021 3.5-4.5 40
China 20.5-28 0.021 3.5-4.5 Coarse
Pakistan 15.5-25.4 0.021 4-4.8 Course
• The quality of this cotton is the poorest. Therefore, it should not be used for the finest quality of fabrics. The staple
length is 1.5-2cm only.
CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON FIBER…

II. Scientific classification of cotton fiber

 II. SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON FIBER

• The scientific Name of Cotton is Gossypium herbaceum.

Scientific Classification of Cotton

Kingdom Plantae
Division Magnoliophyta
Class Magnoliophyta
Order Malvales
Family Malvaceae – mallow family
Genus Gossypim Figure: Scientific Classification of Cotton Fiber.
Species G. Hirsutum/ G. arboretum L.
 III. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ACCORDING TO
THE SPECIES
Cotton fibers belong to the botanical genus ‘Gossypium’. It’s classified in the followings names as per the places of
cultivation such as:
• Gossypium Hirsutum: Upland Cotton, Native to Central America and Mexico.
• Gossypium Barbadense: Pima Cotton, Native tropical south America
• Gossypium Arboreum: Tree cotton, native India and Pakistan.
• Gossypium Herbaceum: Levant cotton, native to Southern Africa & the Arabian Peninsula.
 IV. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON ON THE BASIS OF
LENGTH
According to length, cotton is classified as followings:
• Short Staple Cotton Fiber: 10 mm to 24 mm in length
• Medium Staple Cotton Fiber: 25 mm to 28.6 mm in length
• Long Staple Cotton Fiber: 30 mm to 63.5 mm in length
 V. CLASSIFICATION OF COTTON FIBER ON THE BASIS OF LENGTH
UNIFORMITY:
• The mean length and the upper half mean length of the fibers expressed as a percentage is called Length
uniformity.
• The following table used as a guide in interpreting cotton fiber length uniformity measurements

Degree of Uniformity HVI Length Uniformity Index (%)

Very High Above 85
High 83 – 85
Intermediate 80 – 82
Low 77 – 79
Very Low Below 77
MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF
COTTON FIBER
 MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF COTTON FIBER

Cotton is a seed fiber. It grows in the form of a single cell merging from the epidermis
or outer layer of cotton seed. Each flower of the cotton plant may produce 20-25
seeds enclosed in a green boll. When the growth ceases (stops), the boll splits. The
fibers grow in a tubular form, with a well-developed wall enclosing the lumens running
down the center. When the boll splits, the moisture inside it evaporates. As drying
proceeds, the wall of the fiber shrinks and collapses, on drying and collapsing of the
fiber, the cylindrical cross-section is converted into a convoluted ribbon form with the
flattening of the ribbon Morphological structure of cotton consists of four parts.
These are:
• Cuticle
• Primary Wall Figure: The morphological structure of the cotton fiber.
• Secondary Wall
• Lumen
 MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF COTTON
FIBER…
• Cuticle:
The cuticle of the cotton fiber is a very thin layer tightly attached to the outside of primary wall. More accurately, cotton fiber is
enclosed in cuticle which protects the fiber from any mechanical and chemical damages. The cuticle consists of cotton wax, mixture of
fats, waxes and oils. During initial stages of growth, the cuticle appears as an oily film. During the later stage, the cuticle becomes hard
like a varnish.
• Primary Wall:
The primary wall is built up from cellulose. It also contains pectineus substances. The cellulose appears to concentrate from the growth
period and increases proportionally later stage of cell elongation. On the surface, the molecular chains in the primary wall are arranged
in a random manner without any orientation and definite order. However, cellulose present inside the primary wall is in the form of fine
threads or fibrils, when observed through a microscope. The fibrils are not parallel to the fiber axis but spiral at an angle of about 700
round the fiber axis. The spirals do not reverse in their direction; the spiral angle is greater at the tip and smaller at the base. The
diameter of the cotton fiber is fairly constant throughout the length except at the base and the tip. The diameter of the fiber is in the
order of 15-20 microns, whereas the primary wall is very thin and about 0.1-0.2 micron thick.
 MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF COTTON
FIBER…
• Secondary Wall:
It is composed mainly of cellulose and contributes most of the weight to the fiber, in general, within the primary wall, the bulk of the
fiber consists of the secondary wall. Like primary wall, it consists of concentric layers of fibrils in spiral formation. The outer layers the
of secondary wall, deposited near the primary wall are built up of fibrils at spiral angle of about 200-300 The fibrils in the subsequent
layers are finer than former and the spiraling angle is about 200- 450 The spiral angle changes slightly in magnitude between the
outside and the inside. The spirals also change their direction of rotation at frequent intervals along the fiber length at the reversal
point, they simply form a curve. Always the second set of fibril begins in the opposite direction. In all the layers, the fibrils tend to
follow a closely similar pattern.Arrangement of chain molecules in different parts is shown in fig.
• Lumen:
At the center of the growing fiber, there is a lumen, which remains as a cylindrical void at maturity. The area is about 30-35% of the
total area cross-section. The lumen content evaporates after the boll splits. After drying and collapsing of the fiber, the area of lumen is
reduced to about 5% of the total area. Of course, there is a variation from fiber to fiber. In the dried state, lumen contains coloring
matters apart from other impurities, which decides the color of the fiber.
MICROSCOPIC VIEW (LONGITUDINAL
AND CROSS-SECTIONAL) OF COTTON
Natural Fibers: Vegetable Fibers
 MICROSCOPIC VIEW (LONGITUDINAL AND CROSS-
SECTIONAL) OF COTTON
• The microscopic test is a technical test that involves identifying the fabric with the help of a microscope with a magnification of minimum 100 power. The test can
easily distinguish between fibers.
• Cotton:
• 1. Longitudinal View
• Mature flat and ribbon-like with convolutions, thick wall and small lumen.
• Immature very thin wall and a large lumen with few convolutions.
• Dead very thin and almost transparent. Figure: Longitudinal View.
• Mercerized smooth and cylindrical, fewer convolutions and lumen or sometimes may be absent.
• 2. Cross-Sectional View
• Kidney Shaped
• Elliptical
• Very thin like a strip
• Nearly round or circular Figure: Cross-Sectional View.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COTTON
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COTTON

Amount (dry basis)

Component Main location Primary wall (%)
%
Cellulose 94 Secondary wall 48
Protein 1.3 Lumen 12
Pectin substance 0.9 Primary wall 12
Oil, fat & wax 0.6 Cuticle 7
Ash 1.2
Malic, citric and other organic
0.8
acids
Total sugar 0.3
Pigment Trace
Others 0.9
STRUCTURE AND BONDS OF COTTON
 STRUCTURE AND BONDS OF COTTON

The cellulose chains within cotton fibers tend to be held in place by hydrogen bonding. These hydrogen bonds
occur between the hydroxyl groups of adjacent molecules and are most prevalent between the parallel, closely
packed molecules in the crystalline areas of the fiber.
• Fiber-to-fiber cohesion: ≤ 1,700 g
• Fiber openness: ≥ 100 cc/g
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
OF COTTON
 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF
COTTON
Physical Properties of Cotton Fiber:
Cotton fiber has some physical characteristics which are pointed out in the below:
• Length: 0.5ʺ – 2.5”
• Resiliency: low
• Strength, tenacity (gm per denier): 3 – 5
• Abrasion resistance: medium
• Dimensional stability: medium
• Density (gm/cc): less than both silk and wool
• Heat preventive power: medium
but more than linen.
• Moisture regains: 7-10% (standard 8.5%)
• Color: cream or yellowish like clean white.
• Stiffness: 57-60 g/d due to high crystallinity
• Specific gravity: 1.52-1.55
• Elasticity: 1.50- 1.58
 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF
COTTON…
• Chemical Properties of Cotton Fiber:
The main chemical characteristics of cotton fiber have presented in the following:
1. Action with alkali:
Here, preventive power is good. Alkali does not damage the cotton fiber.
2. Action with acid:
Strong acid damage the fibers. Concentrated sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid damage the fiber. But weak acid
does not damage the fiber.
3. Action with bleaching:
No damaging event is occurred here. Cotton is converted into oxi-cellulose in strong oxidizing bleaching.
 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF
COTTON…
4.Action with organic solvent: 8. Insect’s preventive power:
Resistance so dry is possible here. Not affected by moth.
5. Sunlight preventive power: 9. Heat:
Ultraviolet ray converts the cotton into oxi-cellulose. The conductive ironing temperature is 150°C where
6. Mildew preventive power: decompose is 2400°C and ignition temperature is 390°C.

Untreated not easy.There is possibility to be affected.

7. Dye ability:
Affinity to color is good. Direct, reactive, sulfur and vat dyes are used.