03. UNCONVENTIONAL NATURAL FIBRES_PPT (1).pdf

JUTE FIBRE
• Jute fibre is basically cultivated in India, Bangladesh & nearby countries in the southeast region.
• In India, Jute is mainly grown in the state of West Bengal & it is estimated that 4 million families depend on jute
farming.
• India is the largest producer of jute in world.
• The total production of raw jute fibre during the year 1989-90 was 6.7 million bales. Jute is basically used for
Traditional purposes such as:
a. Manufacturing of sacking.
b. Hessian.
c. Carpet Backing.
d. Twines/Ropes.
e. Coated or laminated fabrics.
f. Canvas, tarpaulin and brattice cloth.

JUTE FIBRE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
• Jute fibre is a complex mixture of
chemicals compounds.
• It is composed of small units of cellulose
surrounded & cemented together by
lignin & hemicellulose.
• The chemical constituents of jute fibers
are classified into three main categories
namely: -cellulose, hemicellulose &
lignin.
The chemical composition of jute fibre is:
Chemicals Quantity
Cellulose 58 – 63 %
Hemicellulose 20 – 22 %
Lignin 12 – 14.5 %
Wax & Fats 0.4 – 0.8 %
Protein 0.8 – 2.5 %

JUTE FIBRE
Cellulose: -
• Cellulose forms the main structural basis of all vegetable fibres and consists of a long chain of 1.4-
anhydro glucose units.
• Cellulose possesses good degree of crystallinity. DP of cellulose in jute is reported to be lowest
among the vegetable fibers near about 1150.
• These chemicals are combined with cellulose through chemical bonds.
• The structural formula of cellulose is as follows in figure

JUTE FIBRE
Hemicellulose: -
• It the polymer like cellulose but having shorter chain length. (DP > 150).
• Hemicelluloses are polymeric carbohydrates.
• These are made up of relatively short chains in comparison with cellulose.
• Hemicellulose molecules have short side chains sticking out at intervals along its length.
• These side chains are acidic in nature.
• It is soluble in cold 18% caustic soda.
• Further, hemicellulose consists of many monomers like D-glucose, D-xylose, D-mannose, L-
arabinose and D-galactose.
• In addition, hemicellulose also contain acetyl and uronic acid groups.

JUTE FIBRE
Hemicellulose: -
• Because of relatively short chains with short side chains, hemicelluloses are amorphous in nature.
• The molecules are oriented in the direction of cellulose micro fibrils.
• These molecules are chemically bonded to lignin by relatively weak bonds and also strongly
associated with cellulose molecules.
• It may be possible that these molecules form an intermediate between cellulose and lignin.
• The hemicellulose present in jute constitutes mainly the amorphous portion of the fiber & responsible
for acidic region & high moisture regain of the fibre.
• A portion of the hemicellulose of the jute fiber remains links with lignin as an ester.

JUTE FIBRE
Lignin:-
• Lignin form an essential component of woody stem as well as cell wall constituents of many plants.
• It imparts rigidity to the cell wall & woody parts acts as a permanent bonding agents between cell
generating a composite structure outstanding by resistance towards impact, compression &
bonding.
• The rigidity of jute is basically due to its lignin contents.
• Lignin is a highly branched three-dimensional polymer and is not swelled by the usual swelling
agents.

JUTE FIBRE
Lignin:-
• The molecular weight of solubilised lignin varies from 300 to 1,40,000.
• The main functional groups present in the lignin are alcoholic & phenolic hydroxyl group,
methoxy, dioxymethylene etc.
• There are two types of lignin present in jute.
• One is known as hemilignin, being easily attacked by common chemical like acid, alkali,
bleaching agents etc and comprises to 20 % of the total and other known as glyco-lignin
comprises 80 % and are of relatively higher molecular weight.

JUTE FIBRE
Lignin:-
• Most of the vegetable fibres contain a small amount of pectin.
• Pectic acid has a chain structure similar to that of other carbohydrates.
• It is a polygalacturonic acid consists of pyranose rings, where sixth carbon atom forms a carboxyl group.
• Some of the carboxyl groups may be esterified by methyl alcohol.
• So they contain methoxylated polygalacturonic acid.
• Actual pectin available in vegetable fibres form a very complex composition.
• They are mainly calcium and magnesium pectates.
• In practice, pectins are not easily eliminated from the fibres; they are difficult to wash out with hot water and are
completely extracted only with hot alkali solutions or by prolonged treatment with acids at elevated.

JUTE FIBRE
Pectin:-
• Most of the vegetable fibres contain a small amount of pectin.
• Pectic acid has a chain structure similar to that of other carbohydrates.
• It is a polygalacturonic acid consists of pyranose rings, where sixth
carbon atom forms a carboxyl group.
• Some of the carboxyl groups may be esterified by methyl alcohol.
• So they contain methoxylated polygalacturonic acid.
• Actual pectin available in vegetable fibres form a very complex composition.
• They are mainly calcium and magnesium pectates.
• In practice, pectins are not easily eliminated from the fibres; they are difficult to wash out with hot
water and are completely extracted only with hot alkali solutions or by prolonged treatment with acids
at elevated.

JUTE FIBRE - CULTIVATION
• Jute is the best fibre obtained from the stalks of two plants known
botanically as Corchorus capsularies and Corchorus olitorius.
• The word jute comes from the Indian name for the plant, which has
the same sound.
• The jute plant grows from 5 to 6 feet high and averages a growth of
10 to 12 feet.
• The stalk is from ½ to ¾ inch in diameter.
• The fibres ranges from 4 to 7 feet high in length and are prepared by
rippling, setting, scotching and hackling, very much like the flax
fibres.
• The field of fibres from the jute plant is 2 to 5 times greater than that
from the flax stalk.

JUTE FIBRE - CULTIVATION
• Jute is essentially a rainy season crop.
• The climate should be such that the temperature should range between 200 C to 350 C and
relative humidity between 62 to 90% during the period of growths.
• The plant grow best is a rich sandy loan.
• The area should be well drained some varieties are suited for low land areas.
• The low land seeds are sown early from mid-february to mid-March.
• In medium lands they are sown from March to May.
• The plants depend entirely on subsoil moisture and the occasional showers till the monsoon sets
in 5 to 7 cms. of rain during sowing period and 2 to 5 cms per week there after suffices.
• Jute tolerates any amount of rain fall when full grown. However, young plants are sensitive to
water lagging.

JUTE FIBRE – MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE

1 . Macro structure:
• Each fibre element visible by naked eye, of a raw jute reed available
commercially is basically a group of about 5-15 ultimate cells,
cemented together laterally and longitudinally by means of inter
cellular materials being chiefly non cellulosic in composition.
• For this, jute fibre is much coarser than cotton which is unicellular.
• The ultimate cells are spindle shaped and of variable size in length
and width, being on an average 2.5 mm long and 0.02 mm width at
the middle.
• The cross-section of the ultimate cells are found to be polygonal with
rounded corners.
• The layer of natural cement present between the ultimate cells is
known as middle lamella. Each ultimate cell has thick cell wall and
lumen, the central canal with more or less oval cross-section.

2 . Micro structure:
• The cell wall of each ultimate cell is
composed of an outer thin primary wall
and an inner thick secondary wall,
differing from each other in the molecular
architecture.
• Both these walls of jute ultimate cell are
compared of ultra-fine micro fibrils.
• While in the primary wall the fibrils are
lying in crisscross manner, the fibrils are
almost parallelly arranged as right hand
spirals in the secondary wall.

Retting and fibre extraction (decorticating)
• Jute is a lignocellulosic fiber i.e. its main constituents are alpha cellulose, hemicellulose
& lignin along with some other minor constituents.
• The process of lignifications causes stiffening of cell wall & thus cells are protected from
physical & chemical damages.
• Jute fiber is extracted from the long stem of the plant by immersing them in stagnant
water (motionless) for a few days, this process known as retting.
• The retting process result in the removal of water soluble gums & non fibrous materials
& thus the fibers are extracted from the bast of the parent plant in the form of a long
mesh of interconnecting fibers commonly known as jute reed.

• Jute has the highest lignin content, which is about 14%.
• Any treatment, which removes these cementing materials, will affect the structure as well as
physical properties.
• Complete removal of either lignin or hemicellulose has little effect on dry tensile strength
of the fibre, while the wet tensile strength reduced to minimum.
• On removal of both the non-cellulosic materials, only ultimate cells are left behind, which
have no value as a textile material.
• Complete removal of impurities from jute can be easily achieved by treating the material
with 1.0% sodium chlorite at 100°C followed by treatment with 9.0-10.0% sodium hydroxide
at room temperature.
• The cellulose will be pure cellulose.

• The retting of jute is normally brought about by a number of micro-
organisms.
• As a micro-biological process, retting is influenced by environmental
conditions and microbiological agents.
• The important characteristics of jute fibre are colour, lustre, cleanness
and strength.
• These properties are dependent on the quality of retting.

The environmental factors, which influences retting are:
1. Hardness of retting water,
2. Presence of oxygen and iron in water,
3. Presence of microbiological agents in water like fungi and bacteria,
4. pH,
5. Temperature, and
6. Light

Retting consists of soaking the stalks in water to make the fibre free from
stalk. Retting can be done by
a) Dew retting,
b) Stagnant water retting,
c) Running water retting and
d) Chemical retting.

A) DEW RETTING
• In this process, jute plants are kept in warm and humid atmosphere by
simply stretching over green grass for 7-15 days in thin layer with
occasional turn over.
• By this process, all the jute stalks get a direct exposure to bright sunlight
in daytime and moisture at night.
• Gradually leaves, small branches, loose bask or skin come out.
• After proper retting, the fibres are separated from the stalks by
continuous pulling from top of the stalk.

B) STAGNANT WATER RETTING
• Here jute stalks are retted in closed or stagnant water like pond or any water deposits.
• Jute stalk bundles are immersed under water.
• After a few days of fermentation, the stalk floats up on the surface of water due to formation of carbon
dioxide inside the bundles.
• After a few days, the colour of the bundle gradually changes from green to yellowish green and then to
yellow.
• After proper retting, the bundles are taken out and the fibres are pulled out from the stalk.
• Further, the fibre is washed in a clean water thoroughly to remove all the non-cellulosic materials.
• The time required for retting is around 10-20 days, depending upon the temperature of the stagnant
water and condition of the stalks.

C) RUNNING WATER RETTING
• In this type of retting, jute stalk is immersed in a current of flowing water in
big bundles and in loose conditions.
• The stalks are left under flowing water for 20 - 30 days according to the
environmental and other factors.
• When it is fully retted, the bundles are taken out and the jute fibres are
extracted in a similar manner like that of retted jute in stagnant water.

D) CHEMICAL RETTING
• Chemical retting consists of softening the tissues by boiling with 1.0% sodium hydroxide
or 0.5% sulphuric acid at boiling temperature for 6 - 8 hours.
• By this process, the lignins, hemicelluloses and the pectic matters are hydrolysed and
degraded to their respective lower product.
• After the treatment, the fibres are washed with clean water.
• In comparison with previous retting methods, this process is costlier as it requires
chemicals and proper vessels for the treatment.

EXTRACTION
• After retting, the bundle of stalks must be dried to make the fibre stronger.
• Passing the fibres through fluted rollers usually breaks the dry jute stalks.
• This process is known as 'crushing’.
• In this process, the rollers break and reduce the woody particles into small
pieces.
• These particles are removed from the fibre by a process, known as
'scutching’.
• Clean jute fibres can be extracted from the fibre bundles by a process, known
as hackling.
• The hackling process may be manual or mechanical.
• These processes extract clean jute fibres extracted by removing hard woody
particles.

EXTRACTION Video source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf7_rbtMbz4

STRIPPING
It is removal of strand of fiber as long as 7 feet. Hand stripping is done for best result.
DRYING
Stripped fibers are hanged on bamboos to sundry.
GRADING
Depending upon fiber characteristics like strength, cleanness, luster, waxy, texture, density
and colour both white (W) and tossa (TD), are graded into eight categories in
descending order of qualities viz. W1 or TD1 To W8 or TD8 where number 1 is the best
and number 8 is worst.

Sr. No. Properties Range Average
1 Ultimate Cell Length (mm) 0.75-6.0 2.5
2 Fiber Fineness (linear Density) (tex)
(den)
0.90 -3.5
8.00-31.0
2.0
18.0
3 Fiber density (gm/cm3) 1.42-1.49 1.48
4 Tenacity (gm/den) 2.7-5.3 3.0
5 Breaking Elongation (%) 0.8-2.0 1.70
6 Initial Modulus (gm/den) 130-220 194
7 Young modulus (dynes/cm2 ) x 1011 0.86-1.94 1.45
8 Moisture regain (at 65% RH & 270C) % 13.0-14.5 13.75
9 Swelling in water: Diametrical (%)
Area wise (%)
18.0-22.0
40.0-50.0
20.0
45.0
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
1. Action of Sunlight
When jute is exposed to sunlight it gradually assumes a
yellowish tinge. This is due to colour changes within the fibre
connected with lignin molecules.
2. Action of Heat
Jute like other textile fibres may not be degraded by heat.
Prolonged heating operation degrades the fibre.
3. Action of Acids
At ordinary or cold conditions organic acids like oxalic acid,
formic acid or mineral acids like sulphuric acid and hydrochloric
acid in dilute condition, has no action. With strong acids at
boiling condition hydro cellulose is formed.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
4. Action of Alkalies
Strong alkalies degrade the strength; jute loses its weight when it is boiled with dilute caustic soda.
The loss is mainly due to the removal of hemicellulose.
5. Action of Oxidising Agents
Ordinary Oxidising agents have no action on jute
6. Action of Micro - Organisms
• Jute is more resistant to micro -biological attack than grey cotton and flax.
• If jute is slightly scoured it has excellent resistant owing to protective effect of lignin.
• Sometimes jute fabrics are treated with cuprammonium solution and then dried.
• A film of green colour is produced on the material, which becomes more or less rot proof.

USES OF JUTE
Jute has long been recognized as a cheap, strong, durable fabric suitable for sacks and
bags which have good second hand value.
Carpet Industry
Jute is used in woven carpets as weft, warp or pile jute is also used in tufted carpets.
Cordage
Small domestic ropes, parceling twines, and horticultural twines are examples of its use as
cordage.

• Flax is one of the oldest textile fibres used by mankind and possibly the oldest.
• Excavations of 8th-century BC stone-age lake-side dwellings found flax seeds, twines
and fishing nets1 and other, but possibly less well documented, sources indicate that
flax, or at least very similar fibres, may have been used some three thousand years
earlier.
• Flax was extensively used in Egypt from the 5th century BC for clothing and sails, whilst
its cultivation and use were progressively developed throughout Europe, North Africa
and Asia.
• During Grecian and Roman times flax, hemp and wool were the major textile raw
materials.
• Silk was imported from China but its price confined its use to the wealthy.
• The poorer classes wore leather, hemp and some linen.
• Flax, wool and hemp continued to be the principal fibres used in Europe until the
establishment of the cotton plantations in North America in the 18th century.

FLAX FIBRE
• Flax is a fibre of plant origin.
• The fibre is obtained from the bark of the plant called flax or linseed (Unum usitatissimum L ).
• It is a member of the genus Unum in the family Linaceae, which has been grown throughout the world.
• For fibre production from flax, a cool humid climate with temperature ranging from 10° - 27° C and of
relative humidity between 30 and 95 %, cloudy weather during growing period is preferred.
• Flax fibre is mostly utilized in textile industry beside other numerous uses due to its good qualities.
• Fine and regular long flax fibres are spun into yarns for linen textiles and more than70% of linen goes
to clothing manufacture.
• Flax is a versatile crop that is grown throughout the world and in a variety of climates and has high
employment generation potential during post- harvest handling and processing.

Component Raw Flax Retted Flax
Cellulose 56.5 64.1
Hemicellulose 15.4 16.7
pectin 3.8 1.8
Lignin 2.5 2.0
Wax & Fats 1.3 1.5
Water Soluble matter 10.5 3.9
Moisture Region 10.0 10.0

The plant and its cultivation
• Flax (Linum Usitatissimum) is a dicotyledon of the Linacea family.
• There are many varieties, cultivars, and those most used for the
production of fibres.
• Primary cells in the bast differentiate early in the plant's life into
what are called `primary fibres', to distinguish them from what are
generally accepted as flax fibres which are, in effect, combinations
of primary fibres cemented to each other by pectins.
• These primary fibres rapidly develop into bundles of several
dozen fibres forming a rough interrupted circle in the bast
(phloem) of the stalk and which surrounds its woody part.
• The outermost bundles develop first, with the more central ones
developing progressively later.
• The primary fibres elongate very rapidly until the end of flowering
and it is at this point that the plant reaches its maximum potential
from the point of view of fibre quality, if not quantity.

The plant and its cultivation
• At maturity, fibres represent about 25% of the dry weight of the flax stalks.
• Stalks can contain between 20 and 40 fibre bundles and each bundle
between 20 and 40 primary fibres.
• Primary fibre diameters vary from 20 mm to 40 mm and their lengths from
10 mm to 100 mm.
• As stated above these primary fibres are cemented to each other within
the bundles by pectins and the bundles run the entire length of the stalk.
• Pectins also cement the bundles to adjacent cells in the phloem of the
stalks.
• Each normal primary fibre has a central lumen.
• Figure shows cross-sectional diagrams of flax stalks showing good and
poor quality fibres.
Cross-sectional diagrams of flax stalks
showing (a) fibre bundles of a high quality flax
and (b) fibre bundles of a low quality flax.

CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING
1. CULTIVATION
• The harvesting of flax requires certain skills, operations and the use of agricultural machines
that are particular to this.
• The skills that are required from the farmers, over and above those needed for other crops,
apply particularly to the dew retting of the flax straw (as the stalks are called when they have
reached maturity and are ready for pulling).
• They need to be able to judge when the straw is sufficiently retted to `turn' and when to lift it
after retting is complete, but before it is over-retted.
• Flax is not very vulnerable to pests and parasites although certain precautions usually need
to be taken.
• However, it does need to be protected against weeds. Preventative measures against zinc
deficiency are also essential.

2. PULLING
• Pulling is carried out when the flax has reached a
certain degree of maturity.
• This is assessed by the colour of the stalks and
seedpods, which should be yellow-brown and
their degree of defoliation.
• Flax pulling machines are self-propelled & are
either single or double.
• Their widths vary from 1.0 to 1.3 m.

3. RETTING
3.1 Dew retting and turning
• Dew retting is the most usual method of retting as it is less labour
intensive and does not have the negative environmental
consequences of water retting.
• It does, however increase the risk of damage to the crop due to
unsuitable weather during the retting period.
• For dew retting the swathes laid on the ground after pulling are left
lying there for a period of up to six weeks.
• They have a thickness of several centimeters and as the rate of
retting is influenced by heat and moisture, obtained from the sun
and dew or rain respectively, the straw in the upper layers of the
swathes will ret at a faster rate than those nearer the ground.
• Because retting affects both the quality of the fibres produced and
their yield and as it is important that the entire crop ret as uniformly
as possible it is necessary to `turn' the swathes.

3. RETTING
3.2 Water-retting
• In water retting the straw, after pulling, is tied
into large bundles and steeped in water, in
either slow-running rivers, ponds or tanks.
• The retting period varies from three days to a
week or a little more, depending on the
temperature of the water.
• When retting is, complete the bales are
removed and the stalks dried by stoking them in
fields.
• Drying time will depend on the weather.
• When sufficiently dry the straw is collected and
stored.

3. RETTING
3.2 Water-retting
• The advantage of water over dew retting is that it is more controllable and avoids the risk of the crop
being spoilt by inclement weather during the weeks that it lies on the ground.
• Water retting is more labour intensive than dew retting because none of the processes involved are
mechanised.
• A further disadvantage of water retting is that the water in which the straw has been steeped is highly
polluted.

4. RIPPLING or DE-SEEDING
• Rippling means separating seeds from the crop.
• Stalks are pulled and are passed through a
comb and the seeds are collected into bags.
• This is done after two or three weeks of
flowering.
• This process is not practiced in Europe because
it makes the fiber less flexible and often leads to
low fiber quality.
• That’s why fibers produced in western Europe
has better quality and fetches higher prices.

5. Bailng and stocking
• When the straw is sufficiently retted the swathes are lifted from the
ground usually, in Western Europe, by a round bailer and stocked
until required for scutching.
• Every effort is made not to lift the swathes if the straw contains over
15% moisture as this may lead to the development of mildew
whilst in storage.
• Again in order to keep the humidity of the straw to under 15% the
straw is stocked under cover.
• In Eastern Europe and China the straw is often not baled but
collected into bundles which may be stored under cover, or may
be built into stacks and thatched with bundles of flax straw.
• Some of these stacks can be very big, measuring for example,
some 30 x 10 x 10m.

6. SCUTCHING
• Scutching is the sequence of operations whose principal purpose
is to separate the fibres from the rest of the plant.
• During scutching certain by-products are produced; these are
short fibres, or tow, seeds and waste woody matter.
• Scutching also rids the fibre of extraneous and waste matter such
as weeds, earth, dust, and small pebbles that are collected as the
crop is pulled or lifted after dew retting.
• The aim of a good scutching operation is to extract the maximum
possible amount of fibre from the retted straw with the highest
possible ratio of long fibre, usually called line, to tow.
• This is because the value of line can be ten times or more that of
tow.

6. Scutching

Physical properties:
1. Length: The average length of fiber various from 90-125 cm. length of individual fiber cells are 6-65 mm (¼ inch – 2
½ inch) and mean diameter of about 0.02mm (1/1200 inch).
2. Color: Brownish, light, ivory, grey.
3. Tensile/Strength: it is stronger than cotton fiber. Tenacity varies from 6.5 to 8 gm/denier
4. Elongation: The elongation at break is approximately 1.8% (dry) & 2.2 (Wet).
5. Bending properties: it has a high degree of rigidity and resists bending.
6. Specific gravity: 1.54
7. Effect of moisture: M.R%=12% (std)
8. Effect of heat: Highly resistant to decomposition up to about 120° C the fibers begin to discolor. Sp. Heat is 0.322. It
is good conductor of heat. So linen sheet are so cold in summer season.
9. Resiliency: Low
10. Abrasion resistance: Moderate
11. Dimensional stability: Good but easily tend to crease.

Chemical properties:
1. Effect Acids: Flax will withstand in weak acids but is attacked by hot dilute acids or cold concentrated
acids.
2. Effect of alkali: Flax has good resistance o alkaline solution for large amount of gum and waxes.
3. Effect of Oxidizing agent: Flax (Linen) is made difficult to bleach than cotton for its huge amount of
impurities, like pectin and gum.
4. Effect of organic solvents: Resistant of common solvents (Acetone, ether, methyl, alcohol,
Chloroform Etc.)
5. Effect of insects: Flax is not attacked by moth, grut or other insects.
6. Effect of micro-orgasms: flax has height resistance to rotting under severe. Conditions of warmth,
damp and contamination however mildews may attack the cellulose of flax but resistance is generally
high particularly if the yarn on fabric is dry.
7. Dye ability: Do not have good affinity to dyes. Direct and vat dyes are suitable for flax fiber.

Uses
• Flax products have been used as sail and tent canvas, fishing
lines, fishing nets, book binder’s thread, and leather working
threads, sewing thread, suture thread, carpet warp and union
cloth cotton & flax blended at weaving stag.
• Flax are also used to produce clothing, household, industrial
and furnishing fabric only the best portion of seed flax can be
used for wool-pile rugs backing, twine and rope.
• The linen fiber are extensively used in fine table damasks,
handkerchiefs and sheer linen fabrics, linen and polyester
blends make excellent wash and wear fabric for dresses and
sportswear.
• Another secretes are waste flax fibers are make in to high grade
bank notes, writing papers cigarette papers.
• The linen makes from flax fiber is an excellent conductor of
heat.
• Linen sheet are cold and linen garments are comfortable in hot
weather.

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