DEPARTMENT:

TEXTILE
ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT
NO:01
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COMPARATIVE STUDY ON WOOL AND ACRYLIC FIBERS.

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
Mohammad Naim Hassan Md. Rifatul Abdal Efti
Assistant Professor
ROLL: 2021040
Department of Textile
Engineering DEPARTMENT: Textile
Engineering
Khulna university of
Engineering and BATCH: 2K20
Technology
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Introducction:

Natural fibre, any hairlike raw material directly

obtainable from an animal, vegetable, or mineral
source and convertible into nonwoven fabrics such
as felt or paper or, after spinning into yarns, into
woven cloth.Cotton fibre is one of the natural fiber
Cotton is a natural fibre. Viscose is a man-made,
natural polymeric cellulose or regenerated cellulose
filament or staple fiber. Viscose regenerated
cellulose is obtained by the viscoseprocess.
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Cotton Fibre:
Cotton is a vegetable fiber obtained from the mature
capsule of the cotton plant, a shrub about 40cm high,
with leaves and flowers of a red and yellow
colour. When the flower is fecundated it loses its
petals and within 25 days a capsule surrounded by a
leaf called bract grows.
The capsule is sustained by a cup and has a drop
shape rounded at the lower extremity. Inside the
capsule there are from five to eight seeds on which
the fibre developed. When the capsule is mature it
opens into four parts showing the cotton ball.
On the same plant the maturation of the capsules
does not occur simultaneously, therefore more
passages are required for the harvest of the cotton.
The harvest is carried out a week after maturation.
The first operation after harvesting is husking, which
permits the removal of the fibres from the
seeds. Then the cotton is carded and combed
so as to eliminate all the impurities.

4000 fibers is the seed average. Staple length

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for manufacturing yarns = 1/8" - 2.5" (0.32 -

6.35cm), for fabrics = 7/8" - 11/4" (2.22 - 3.18) is
standard.

The requisites on the basis of which to judge the

quality of the cotton are the grade, the colour and the
length of the fibers as well as the character.

The grade us given by the external apperance of the

cotton and is determind on the basis
of the major or minor brightness of the
fibers
by its more or less white colour
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by the major or minor presence of particles of the

leaf or other extraneous substances

The colour is another imporant element of

evaluation of cotton. In fact, the major or minor
whiteness of the cotton is crucial for the facility of
later workings and the possibility of obtaining good
yarns.

The length is the most important attribute of the

fiber. In this regard, cotton is divided into three
categories: long fiber cottons (long staple)
with measures more than 28mm and short fiber
cotton (short staple) that do 12mm and less.It is also
called the king of all fibre .
Chemical Composition:
Cellulose : 94%
Protein : 1.3%
Pecfic substance : 1.2%
Ash : 1.2%
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Fat & Wax : 0.6%

Org.acid&others : 1.7%

Physical Properties of Cotton

Fibre:
Cotton fibre has some physical characteristics which
are pointed out in the below:
1. Length: 0.5ʺ – 2.5”
2. Strength, tenacity (gm per denier): 3 – 5
3. Dimensional stability: medium
4. Heat preventive power: medium
5. Moisture regain: 7-10% (standard 8.5%)
6. Stiffness: 57-60 g/d due to high crystallinity
7. Elasticity: 1.50- 1.58
8. Resiliency: low
9. Abrasion resistance: medium
10. Density (gm/cc): less than both silk and wool
but more than linen.
11. Color: cream or yellowish like clean white.
12. Specific gravity: 1.52-1.55
Chemical Properties of Cotton Fibre:
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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 cotton fibre.

2. Action with acid:

Strong acid damage the fibres. Concentrated
sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid damage the
fibre. But weak acid does not damage the fibre.

3. Action with bleaching:

No damaging event is occurred here. Cotton is
converted into oxi-cellulose in strong oxidizing
bleaching.
4. Action with organic solvent:
Resistance so dry is possible here.
5. Sunlight preventive power:
Ultraviolet ray converts the cotton into oxi-cellulose.

6. Mildew preventive power:

Untreated not easy. There is possibility to be affected.
7. Dye ability:
Affinity to color is good. Direct, reactive, sulphur and
vat dyes are used.
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8. Insects preventive power:

Not affected by moth.

9. Heat:
Conductive ironing temperature is 150°C where
decompose is 2400°C and ignition temperature is
390°C.
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Viscose Fibre
Viscose is a manufactured fiber made from natural
materials. It’s one of the three types of rayon:
modal, lyocell, and viscose. Each is treated
differently and made into fabrics with different
properties The term “viscose” refers to the viscous
organic liquid which is regenerated into fibers for
making the fabric. Viscose rayon is derived from
cellulose, the main constituent of plant cell

Physical Properties of Viscose:

Viscose rayon fiber has a density of 1.52 g/cm3,
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higher than all other natural fibers and also higher

than most synthetic fibers. Thus, fabrics made of
pure rayon fiber are usually heavier than those
made of other fibers at fixed fabric thickness.
Important physical properties of viscose rayon are
described below.
1. Moisture Absorption
It absorbs more moisture than cotton. Moisture
Content of Cotton is 6% at 70 deg F and 65% RH,
and for Viscose Rayon it is 13% under the same
conditions.
2. Tensile Strength
The Tensile Strength of the fiber is less when the
fiber is wet than when dry. It is 1.5-2.4 gpd in the
dry state and 0.7-1.2 gpd in the wet state. For high
tenacity variety the values are 3-4.6 gpd and 1.9 to
3.0 gpd.
3. Elasticity
The elasticity of Viscose Rayon is less than 2-3%.
This is very important in handling viscose yarns
during weaving, stentering etc when sudden
tensions are applied.
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4. Elongation at Break
Ordinary Viscose rayon has 15-30% elongation at
break, whule high tenacity rayon has only 9-17%
elongation at break.
5. Density
The density of Viscose rayon is 1.53 g/cc. Rayon
filaments are available in three densities: 1.5, 3.0
and 4.5.
6. Action of Heat and Light
At 300 deg F or more, VR loses its strength and
begins to decompose at 350-400 deg F. Prolonged
exposure to sunlight also weakens the fiber due to
moisture and ultraviolet light of the sunlight.
Chemical Properties of Viscose Rayon:
Viscose rayon consists of cellulose of lower DP than
cotton cellulose. Also amorphous region of Viscose
rayon is present to a greater extent, therefore,
Viscose rayon reacts faster than cotton with
chemicals. Acids like H2SO4 HCL breaks the
cellulose to hydrocellulose. Oxidising agents like
Na(OCl)2, Bleaching powder, K2Cr2O7, KMnO4–
form oxycellulose. Cold acid solutions for a short
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time do not attack viscose rayon. Essential chemical

properties of viscose rayon are described below.
1. Action of Acids
The resistance of regenerated cellulose rayon’s to
acids is generally less than that of cotton to the same
concentrations of the same acids. Therefore, acid
treatments must not be too drastic with respect to
concentration, temperature and time. Organic acids
can be safely used in 1 to 2 percent concentration
without injury to the fiber. Inorganic acids such as
hydrochloric and nitric can be used in surprisingly
strong concentrations provided the temperatures are
not too high and the treatment is brief. Oxalic acid
for removal of iron stains is not recommended
except at temperatures lower than 150°F. At high
temperatures and concentrations all acid will destroy
or carbonize regenerated rayon’s. No harmful action
will result if applied at 0.5 to 3 percent solution at
room temperature.
2.Action of Soaps
Ordinary soaps in usual textile concentration have
no direct effect regenerated cellulose materials.
Improper use of soap or use of poorly made soap
results in rancidity and odor in rayon fabrics or
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yarns. When soaps alone is used ,there is a

tendency for the ionized fatty acid from the soap to
adhere tenaciously to the individual rayon
filaments. During the drying filament of such
materials and subsequent storage .The free fatty
acid radical is very likely to turn rancid and to give
the goods and objectionable odor. This
phenomenon is specially Prevalent on oil-
delustered rayons, because the fatty acid radical of
the soap adheres Tenaciously to the minute oil
globules in the structure of the yarn.If given time
enough the fatty acid radical
3.Action of Dry Heat
Most regenerated celluloses, under the influence of
heat as well as light, show rapid loss in strength, this
change being accompanied by a increase in copper
number and alkali solubility. In a study of effect of
drying conditions of textile yearns, Wiegerink in
1940 showed that the quality index of cellulose fibers
decreases either as the temperature is increased or as
the moisture content of the surrounding atmosphere is
increased. Both the breaking strength and fluidity of
viscose rayon appear to be functions of the relative
humidity to which the samples are exposed.
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Degradation of cellulose is lower in the absence of

oxygen. Continued heating, however, in the absence
of oxygen leads to deterioration of the cellulose but
little is known about the course of the reactions. Short
heating at high temperatures, such as 140°C is less
harmful than long heating at lower temperatures. A
decrease of tenacity and eventually a yellow to brown
discoloration occurs on aging.
4. Action of Solvents
Textile solvents can be used on Viscose rayon
without any deteriorating effect. Viscose
rayon dissolves in cuprammonium hydroxide
solution.
5. Effect of Iron
Contact with iron in the form of ferrous
hydroxide weakens viscose rayon yarns.
Therefore staining, marking or touching of
rayon to iron or iron surface should be
avoided.
6. Action of Microorganisms
Microorganisms (moulds, mildew, fungus,
bacteria) affect the color, strength, dyeing
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properties and luster of rayon. Clean and dry

viscose rayon is rarely attacked by moulds
and mildew.

Viscose Fiber Mechanical

Properties
As with other textile fiber materials, tensile strength
and breaking elongation are two of the most
important mechanical properties for viscose rayon
fiber. Fiber tensile strength is often expressed by
tenacity with a unit of force per denier or tex. Table-
1 lists tensile strengths and elongations of viscose
rayon compared to HWM viscose, tencel, cotton,
and polyester.
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Viscose rayon fiber has a lower tensile strength

under wet conditions (e.g., during washing) than
under dry conditions. This difference can be greater
than a factor of 2. Another mechanical feature of
viscose rayon fiber is its substantially high
elongation, up to 25% (dry) and 30% (wet).
Therefore, viscose rayon or rayon blended fabrics
tend to have good stretchability. In comparison,
HWM viscose fiber shows a higher tensile strength in
both dry and wet conditions, but a lower elongation
at break.

The end