10/24/2018 Natural fiber - Wikipedia

Natural fiber
Natural fibers or natural fibres (see spelling differences) are fibres that are produced by plants, animals, and
geological processes.[1] They can be used as a component of composite materials, where the orientation of fibers impacts
the properties.[2] Natural fibers can also be matted into sheets to make products such as paper, felt or fabric.[3][4]

The earliest evidence of humans using fibers is the discovery of wool and dyed flax fibers found in a prehistoric cave in the
Republic of Georgia that date back to 36,000 BP.[5][6] Natural fibers can be used for high-tech applications, such as
composite parts for automobiles. Compared to composites reinforced with glass fibers, composites with natural fibers
have advantages such as lower density, better thermal insulation, and reduced skin irritation. Further, unlike glass fibers,
natural fibers can be broken down by bacteria once they are no longer in use.

Natural fibers are good sweat absorbents and can be found in a variety of textures. Cotton fibers made from the cotton
plant, for example, produce fabrics that are light in weight, soft in texture, and which can be made in various sizes and
colors. Clothes made of natural fibers such as cotton are often preferred over clothing made of synthetic fibers by people
living in hot and humid climates.

Contents
General Information
Plant fibres
Animal fibers
Chitin
Chitosan
Collagen
Keratin
Properties
Moisture Dependence
Applications
Industrial Use
Natural fiber composites
Nanocomposites
Biomaterial/Biocompatibility
See also
References
External links

General Information
Natural fibers are made from plant, animal, and mineral sources. Natural fibers can be classified according to their origin.

Plant fibres

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Category Description
Seed
the fibres collected from the seeds of various plants are known as seed fibres
fibre

Leaf fibre fibres collected from the cells of a leaf are known as leaf fibres, ex.-pina, banana, etc.[7]
Bast fibers are collected from the outer cell layers of the plant's stem. These fibers are used for durable
Bast fibre yarn, fabric, packaging, and paper. Some examples are flax, jute, kenaf, industrial hemp, ramie, rattan,
and vine fibers.[8]
Fruit fibre Fibers collected from the fruit of the plant, e.g. coconut fiber (coir)
Stalk
Fibers from the stalks of plants, e.g. straws of wheat, rice, barley, bamboo and straw[7]
fibre

Animal fibers
Animal fibers generally comprise proteins such as collagen, keratin and fibroin; examples include silk, sinew, wool, catgut,
angora, mohair and alpaca.

Animal hair (wool or hairs): Fiber or wool taken from animals or hairy mammals. e.g. sheep's wool, goat hair
(cashmere, mohair), alpaca hair, horse hair, etc.
Silk fiber: Fiber secreted by glands (often located near the mouth) of insects during the preparation of cocoons.
Avian fiber: Fibers from birds, e.g. feathers and feather fiber.

Chitin
Chitin is the second most abundant natural polymer in the world, with collagen
being the first. It is a “linear polysaccharide of β-(1-4)-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-
glucose”.[9] Chitin is highly crystalline and is usually composed of chains
organized in a β sheet. Due to its high crystallinity and chemical structure, it is
insoluble in many solvents. It also has a low toxicity in the body and is inert in
the intestines. Chitin also has antibacterial properties.[10]

Chitin forms crystals that make fibrils that become surrounded by proteins. Chemical structure of chitin chains
These fibrils can bundle to make larger fibers that contribute to the
hierarchical structure of many biological materials.[11] These fibrils can form
randomly oriented networks that provide the mechanical strength of the organic layer in different biological materials.[12]

Chitin provides protection and structural support to many living organisms. It makes up the cell walls of fungi and yeast,
the shells of mollusks, the exoskeletons of insects and arthropods. In shells and exoskeletons, the chitin fibers contribute
to their hierarchical structure.[9]

In nature, pure chitin (100% acetylation) does not exist. It instead exists as a copolymer with chitin's deacetylated
derivative, chitosan. When the acetylized composition of the copolymer is over 50% acetylated it is chitin.[11] This
copolymer of chitin and chitosan is a random or block copolymer.[9]

Chitosan
Chitosan is a deacetylated derivative of chitin. When the acetylized composition of the copolymer is below 50% it is
chitosan.[11] Chitosan is a semicrystalline “polymer of β-(1-4)-2-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose”.[9] One difference between
chitin and chitosan is that chitosan is soluble in acidic aqueous solutions. Chitosan is easier to process that chitin, but it is

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less stable because it is more hydrophilic and has pH sensitivity. Due to its ease
of processing, chitosan is used in biomedical applications.[10]

Collagen Chemical structure of chitosan chain

Collagen is a structural protein, often referred to as “the steel of biological

materials”.[13] There are multiple types of collagen: Type I (comprising skin, tendons and ligaments, vasculature and
organs, as well as teeth and bone); Type II (a component in cartilage); Type III (often found in reticular fibers); and
others. Collagen has a hierarchical structure, forming triple helices, fibrils, and fibers.[11]

Keratin
Keratin is a structural protein located at the hard surfaces in many vertebrates.
Keratin has two forms, α-keratin and β-keratin and are used by different
classes of animals. The naming convention for proteins follows that for keratin,
alpha keratin is helical and beta keratin is sheet like. Alpha keratin is found in
mammalian hair, skin, nails, horn and quills, while beta keratin can be found
in avian and reptilian species in scales, feathers, and beaks. The two different
structures of keratin have dissimilar mechanical properties, as seen in their
dissimilar applications. The relative alignment of the keratin fibrils has a
significant impact on the mechanical properties. In human hair the filaments
of alpha keratin are highly aligned, giving a tensile strength of approximately
200MPa. This tensile strength is an order of magnitude higher than human
nails (20MPa), because human hair’s keratin filaments are more aligned.[9]

Properties
Compared to synthetic fibers, natural fibers tend have decreased stiffness and Diagram showing the creation of
alpha keratins helical structure.
strength.[9]

Tensile Mechanical Properties of Natural Fibers[9]

Elastic Modulus Strength
Material Fiber
(GPa) (MPa)
Tendon Collagen 1.50 150
Bone Collagen 20.0 160
Mud Crab Exoskeleton
Chitin 0.48 30
(wet)
Prawn Exoskeleton
Chitin 0.55 28
(wet)
Bovine Hoof Keratin 0.40 16
Wool Keratin 0.50 200

Properties also decrease with the age of the fiber. Younger fibers tend to be stronger and more elastic than older ones.[9]
Many natural fibers exhibit strain rate sensitivity due to their viscoelastic nature.[14] Bone contains collagen and exhibits
strain rate sensitivity in that the stiffness increases with strain rate, also known as strain hardening. Spider silk has hard

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and elastic regions that together contribute to its strain rate sensitivity, these cause the silk to exhibit strain hardening as
well.[11] Properties of natural fibers are also dependent on the moisture content in the fiber.[9]

Moisture Dependence
The presence of water plays a crucial role in the mechanical behavior of natural fibers. Hydrated, biopolymers generally
have enhanced ductility and toughness. Water plays the role of a plasticizer, a small molecule easing passage of polymer
chains and in doing so increasing ductility and toughness. When using natural fibers in applications outside of their native
use, the original level of hydration must be taken into account. For example when hydrated, the Young’s Modulus of
collagen decreases from 3.26 to 0.6 GPa and becomes both more ductile and tougher. Additionally the density of collagen
decreases from 1.34 to 1.18 g/cm^3.[9]

Applications

Industrial Use
Of industrial value are four animal fibers, wool, silk, camel hair, and angora as
well as four plant fibers, cotton, flax, hemp, and jute. Dominant in terms of
scale of production and use is cotton for textiles.[15]

Natural fiber composites

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] Usage includes applications
where energy absorption is important, such as insulation, noise absorbing 19th century knowledge weaving
panels, or collapsable areas in automobiles.[16] flax, hemp, jute, Manila hemp, sisal
and vegetable fibers
Natural fibers can have different advantages over synthetic reinforcing fibers.
Most notably they are biodegradable and renewable. Additionally, they often
have low densities and lower processing costs than synthetic materials.[16][17] Design issues with natural fiber-reinforced
composites include poor strength (natural fibers are not as strong as glass fibers) and difficulty with actually bonding the
fibers and the matrix. Hydrophobic polymer matrices offer insufficient adhesion for hydrophilic fibers.[16]

Nanocomposites
Nanocomposites are desirable for their mechanical properties. When fillers in a composite are at the nanometer length
scale, the surface to volume ratio of the filler material is high, which influences the bulk properties of the composite more
compared to traditional composites. The properties of these nanosized elements is markedly different than that of its bulk
constituent.

In regards to natural fibers, some of the best example of nanocomposites appear in biology. Bone, abalone shell, nacre,
and tooth enamel are all nanocomposites. As of 2010, most synthetic polymer nanocomposites exhibit inferior toughness
and mechanical properties compared to biological nanocomposites.[18] Completely synthetic nanocomposites do exist,

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however nanosized biopolymers are also being tested in synthetic matrices. Several types of protein based, nanosized
fibers are being used in nanocomposites. These include collagen, cellulose, chitin and tunican.[19] These structural
proteins must be processed before use in composites.

To use cellulose as an example, semicrystalline microfibrils are sheared in the amorphous region, resulting in
microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). These small, crystalline cellulose fibrils are at this points reclassified as a whisker and
can be 2 to 20 nm in diameter with shapes ranging from spherical to cylindrical. Whiskers of collagen, chitin, and cellulose
have all be used to make biological nanocomposites. The matrix of these composites are commonly hydrophobic synthetic
polymers such as polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride and copolymers of polystyrene and polyacrylate.[19][18]

Traditionally in composite science a strong interface between the matrix and filler is required to achieve favorable
mechanical properties. If this is not the case, the phases tend to separate along the weak interface and makes for very poor
mechanical properties. In a MCC composite however this is not the case, if the interaction between the filler and matrix is
stronger than the filler-filler interaction the mechanical strength of the composite is noticeably decreased.[19]

Difficulties in natural fiber nanocomposites arise from dispersity and the tendency small fibers to aggregate in the matrix.
Because of the high surface area to volume ratio the fibers have a tendency to aggregate, more so than in micro-scale
composites. Additionally secondary processing of collagen sources to obtain sufficient purity collagen micro fibrils adds a
degree of cost and challenge to creating a load bearing cellulose or other filler based nanocomposite.[19]

Biomaterial/Biocompatibility
Natural fibers often show promise as biomaterials in medical applications. Chitin is notable in particular and has been
incorporated into a variety of uses. Chitin based materials have also been used to remove industrial pollutants from water,
processed into fibers and films, and used as biosensors in the food industry.[20] Chitin has also been used several of
medical applications. It has been incorporated as a bone filling material for tissue regeneration, a drug carrier and
excipient, and as an antitumor agent.[21] Insertion of foreign materials into the body often triggers an immune response,
which can have a variety of positive or negative outcomes depending on the bodies response to the material. Implanting
something made from naturally synthesized proteins, such as a keratin based implant, has the potential to be recognized
as natural tissue by the body. This can lead either to integration in rare cases where the structure of the implant promotes
regrowth of tissue with the implant forming a superstructure or degradation of the implant in which the backbones of the
proteins are recognized for cleavage by the body.[20][21]

See also
Coir
Fiber
International Year of Natural Fibres 2009
Spider silk

References
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External links
Mundo Material (http://www.mundomaterial.eu/en/)
IJSG (http://www.jute.org/plant_1.htm)

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