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Basic Properties And Application Of Kapok Fiber

2010/7/1 14:24:00 41

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Kapok fiber is a fiber attached to fruit and pods of several species of kapok Kone.

Unicellular fiber

The same as cotton fiber.

But cotton fiber is seed fiber, which grows from the epidermal cells of seeds, and fibers are attached to seeds.

The kapok fiber is a fruit fiber attached to the inner wall of the fruit shell of the kapok capsule, which develops and grows from the inner wall cells.

The adhesion of kapok fiber to the inner wall of capsule shell is small and easy to separate.

At present, the kapok fiber mainly refers to the kapok species, the kapok seed and the seed of the three species.

Kapok fiber has unique thin wall, large hollow structure and light quality, water repellent and oil absorbing properties.

However, due to its short length, low strength, poor cohesion and lack of elasticity, kapok fiber is difficult to spin separately, resulting in its limitations in textile applications.

But kapok fiber has unique advantages in gloss, hygroscopicity and warmth retention. It has good application prospects in advocating green environmental protection materials.

1. The basic properties of kapok fiber

physical property

Kapok fibers are three kinds of white, yellow and yellowish brown fibers with a length of about 8-32mm and a diameter of about 20-45 m.

The longitudinal appearance is cylindrical, with smooth surface and no obvious turning. The middle part is thicker, the root ends are blunt, the ends are thin, and the ends are closed.

A large hollow tube wall with a circular cross-section or oval shape, with a hollow degree of up to 80-90%, and a cross-section of cells without balloon rupture.

The unique fiber structure of kapok fiber also determines its basic properties different from other natural fibers.

Kapok fiber has a high degree of hollowness and thin cell walls, so its relative density is small and buoyancy is good.

The fiber can withstand 20-36 times load in the water without sinking. The relative torsion rigidity of kapok fiber is 71.5 * 10-4eN. Em2. Tex-2, larger than that of glass fiber, which will cause the twisting efficiency to decrease.

The moisture regain of kapok fiber can reach 10.73%, which is equivalent to 10.6% of that of mercerized cotton.

The average refractive index of kapok fiber is 1.71761, which is slightly higher than that of cotton, which causes the glossy bright and smooth circular section of kapok fiber, which increases the glossiness of the cotton fabric. The average refractive index is about 1.59614.

2, chemical properties

Kapok fiber contains about 64% of cellulose, accounting for 13% of lignin, and also contains 8.6% moisture, 1.4-3.5% ash, 4.7-9.7% water-soluble substances, 2.3-2.5% xylan and 0.8% waxes.

Kapok fiber has good chemical properties and good acid resistance. At room temperature, dilute acid has no effect on it, and the alkali resistance of kapok fiber is good. Sodium hydroxide has no effect on Kapok at room temperature.

Kapok fibers can be dyed by direct dyes. However, because kapok fibers contain a large number of lignin and hemicellulose, they are entangled with cellulose and intermolecular forces, resulting in the partial hydroxyl of cellulose fibers are blocked and entangled, resulting in dye molecules can not enter smoothly, so that the dye uptake is only 63%.

Two. Application of kapok fiber

1, medium and high grade garments, home textile fabrics

Kapok fibers have poor spinnability and are generally difficult to spin.

It can be used to blend fabrics with cotton, viscose or other cellulose fibers, and can make fabrics with gloss and good feel.

2, medium and high grade bedding, pillow core, cushion and other filling materials.

Kapok fiber

There are also some excellent features, such as no moisture absorption, no entanglement, pest control and hygiene, which is very suitable for mattress and pillow core.

These characteristics are very important in wet climates or wet areas, and are good filling materials.

A large amount of static air formed by its thin wall and large hollow structure can achieve good thermal effect.

However, the compression elasticity is poor, and the bulking performance will be significantly reduced under repeated compression. This leads to the wide application of kapok fibers in these fields.

3. Buoyancy material for life preserver

The buoyancy of the new kapok aggregate has good buoyancy retention. Even if the packaging material is slightly damaged, the buoyancy damage degree is very small. After drying, the kapok aggregate will regain its buoyancy.

In 1946, the US Coast Guard conducted buoyancy tests on natural fiber assemblies such as kapok, glass fiber, cattail, milkweeds and so on. It was concluded that kapok was the best buoyancy material. In 1982, practical tests were carried out on life jackets filled with kapok and PVC, PE and other foam plastic filled lifebuoy. It was proved that the wearing of plastic foam life jackets was worn out from aging, while the kapok lifejacket did not have such a problem, which had unique advantages.

4. Heat insulation and sound absorption materials

Due to the high enthalpy, low thermal conductivity and high sound absorption efficiency of kapok fiber, it has been used as a heat insulation and sound insulation material in industry, such as the insulation layer and sound-absorbing layer of the house.