WOOL FIBRE: PART 1

WOOL FIBRE: PART 1

Wool is the natural textile fibre. It is obtained from animals or sheeps. including cashmere and mohair from goats, Qiviut from muskoxen, fur clothing from bison, angora from rabbits, and other types of wool from camelids.

WOOL FIBRE

Wool consists of protein together with a few percent lipids. In this regard it is chemically quite distinct from the more dominant textile, cotton, which is mainly cellulose.

MORPHOLOGY OF WOOL FIBRE:

MORPHOLOGY OF WOOL

• CUTICLE:

Cuticle is the outer surface of wool fibre. It is made up of falt, irregular, Horny scales which overlap with the projecting edges pointing toward the fibre tip. This scaly epidermis serves as a protection for the main part of a fibre also gives rigidity. Cuticle cell width is around 36 micron, thickness is 0.5- 1.0 micron. This scaly layer consist of three separate fractions Epicuticle, Exocuticle, Endocuticle.

CUTICLE

1. EPICUTICLE: It is outermost layer of the wool fibre.
2. EXOCUTICLE: It is the part which is inside the Epicuticle.
3. ENDOCUTICLE: It is the innermost layer of the wool fibre.

• CORTEX:

Cortex is the main portion of the wool fibre. It consist of long slightly flattened and twisted spindle shaped cells. Cells approximately 80-100 micron long. 2.5 and 1.2-2.6 microns for the major and minor diameter respectively. Cortex is mainly responsible strength, elasticity and dyeing behaviour of wool. It consiste of two types of cortex i.e Orthocortex and Paracortex. These are from two distinct halves.

• MEDULLA:

Medulla or central core that runs lengthwise in wool fibre. This medulla ariese from growing root and is loosly filled with many superimposed cells of various cells often polygonal. The size of the medulla varies greatly and the volume of the wool fibres occupied by the medulla may run from 10-80%. It is probably through the medulla that solutions of wet processing treatments and dye penetration in the fibre.

• CORTICLE CELL:

Corticle cell are surrounded and held together by cell membrane complex, acting similar to mortal holding bricks in the wall. The membrane complex contains proteins and waxy liquids.

• MACRO FIBRILS:

Macro fibrils are inside the corticle cell. There are long filaments called macro fibrils. These are made up of bundles of even finer filaments called micro fibrils.

• MATRIX:

Matrix is the region which is responsible for the wool's fire resistance and anti-static properties.

• MICRO FABRILS:

Within a matrix area, there are embeded smaller units called micro fibrils. It contains pair of twisted molecular chains.

• Published By:

Vaishnavi Pandhare.

Dept. Of Textile Technlogy,

DKTE Textile and Engineering Institute,Ichalkaranji.