Chapter 3 - Natural Textile Fibres: Animal and Silk Fibres

Abstract

Nature exhibits an abundance of structural materials in the form of protein fibres, which have attained remarkable levels of efficiency and performance through evolutionary selection. Alpha keratin fibres (hairs, wools, quills, and other mammalian appendages), together with fibroin fibres such as silks and spiders webs, are all highly extensible fibrous proteins for which the mechanical properties are of primary importance both to the animal from which they originate and their ultimate application by man. Similarly, the collagens are highly inextensible, fibrous proteins that form the major component of mammalian skin and connecting structures such as tendons. In this chapter, natural protein fibres such as wool, silk, and specialty hair fibres such as cashmere, mohair, and camel hair fibres are discussed with reference to their structure and physical properties. Various applications of these fibres are also discussed in brief.