Natural Fibrous Materials Research Articles

Toward allotetraploid cotton genome assembly: integration of a high-density molecular genetic linkage map with DNA sequence information

BackgroundCotton is the world’s most important natural textile fiber and a significant oilseed crop. Decoding cotton genomes will provide the ultimate reference and resource for research and utilization of the species. Integration of high-density genetic maps with genomic sequence information will largely accelerate the process of whole-genome assembly in cotton.ResultsIn this paper, we update a high-density interspecific genetic linkage map of allotetraploid cultivated cotton. An additional 1,167 marker loci have been added to our previously published map of 2,247 loci. Three new marker types, InDel (insertion-deletion) and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) developed from gene information, and REMAP (retrotransposon-microsatellite amplified polymorphism), were used to increase map density. The updated map consists of 3,414 loci in 26 linkage groups covering 3,667.62 cM with an average inter-locus distance of 1.08 cM. Furthermore, genome-wide sequence analysis was finished using 3,324 informative sequence-based markers and publicly-available Gossypium DNA sequence information. A total of 413,113 EST and 195 BAC sequences were physically anchored and clustered by 3,324 sequence-based markers. Of these, 14,243 ESTs and 188 BACs from different species of Gossypium were clustered and specifically anchored to the high-density genetic map. A total of 2,748 candidate unigenes from 2,111 ESTs clusters and 63 BACs were mined for functional annotation and classification. The 337 ESTs/genes related to fiber quality traits were integrated with 132 previously reported cotton fiber quality quantitative trait loci, which demonstrated the important roles in fiber quality of these genes. Higher-level sequence conservation between different cotton species and between the A- and D-subgenomes in tetraploid cotton was found, indicating a common evolutionary origin for orthologous and paralogous loci in Gossypium.ConclusionThis study will serve as a valuable genomic resource for tetraploid cotton genome assembly, for cloning genes related to superior agronomic traits, and for further comparative genomic analyses in Gossypium.

Improvement in environmental performance of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(β-hydroxyvalerate) composites through process modifications

As interest grows in developing materials with low environmental impact, research on bio-based composites is gaining attention in the composites industry. Bio-based composites are polymer matrix composites reinforced with natural fibers. This study uses life cycle assessment methods to examine the environmental impact of and improvements to production processes for bio-based composites made of a renewable polymer matrix, poly(β-hydroxybutyrate)-co-(β-hydroxyvalerate), and natural fiber fabric. Investigated production improvements include targeting reduced thermal energy use, biomass reuse as a fuel source, and design alterations such as reduced waste and fiber replacement. The greatest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, and weighted impact score were found to be possible through incineration of excess biomass and the use of alternate fiber types. The application of thermal energy recycling mechanisms had little influence on the examined environmental impacts.

Rare earth elements as critical raw materials: Focus on international markets and future strategies

Supply of some critical raw materials by European industry is becoming more and more difficult. After the case of natural textile fibres, in particular cotton, and timber, over the last few years the problem of rare earths (REs) availability has also risen. The 97% of the global supply of rare earth metals (REMs) is produced by China, that has recently done copious cuts of its exports, apparently in order to protect its environment. This fact has greatly increased the REs prices, causing tension and uncertainty among the world hi-tech markets. Many of these materials, in fact, have very few effective substitutes and low recycling rates too. In addition, their natural reserves of rare earths are concentrated in a small number of countries (China, Brazil, US, Russia, Democratic Republic of Congo). REMs are a group of 17 elements particularly used in many new electronic and advanced components: such as fuel cells, mobile phones, displays, hi-capacity batteries, permanent magnets for wind power generation, green energy devices, etc. Many analysts foresee much more requests in the next decades.

Chromatographic and colorimetric characterizations of brominated indigoid dyeings

The major indigoids constituting modern and archaeological purple pigments produced from molluskan species include, in varying compositions, indigo, 6-bromoindigo, and 6,6′-dibromoindigo. Though woolen Tyrian Purple dyeings produced from these pigments were the most prized and precious of all dyeings in antiquity, a full chromatographic and colorimetric analysis of multi-fibered textiles dyed with these indigoids has not been previously performed. This current study reports on high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analyses conducted on the indigoid pigments and on woolen dyeings individually produced from them. In addition, comparative colorimetric analyses via reflectance spectrophotometry were performed on standard multifiber fabric swatches, each consisting of 13 different synthetic and natural fibrous materials. Each swatch was dyed with one of the cited indigoids. These colorimetric properties included the Kubelka-Munk spectral curves, color strengths at the wavelengths of maximum absorptions, color coordinates of the CIE L*a*b* and L*C*h* color spaces, and the color differences. Excellent functional correlations were observed among these properties and these relationships should be applicable to similar dyeings on other fabric materials. The results show that filament triacetate and nylon-66 possess the most remarkable color strengths of all the fiber materials investigated in all the dyeings, and of the natural fibers studied, wool possessed the highest color strength and cotton the poorest with all three dyes. Such chromatographic and colorimetric analyses would further our understanding of the colors produced from ancient, and modern, purple-dyed textiles.

Study on the Color Fastness to Light of the Natural Fiber Fabric

In order to understand the color fastness to light of the natural fiber materials, different kinds of natural fiber fabrics were tested for comparison. Based on the data obtained from the experiments, a conclusion was drawn that the degree of color fastness to light could be divided into different levels and there were many factors that can affect the color fastness to light, such as fiber materials, dye, color combinations, atmospheric compositions of surroundings, sample moisture content ratio, temperature and so on. This paper carries out the original methods including dyeing and exposing to light and it also provides some guides for the researches on color fastness of the natural fiber materials.

Analysis of an Explosion in a Wool-Processing Plant

A major accident occurred in an Italian wool factory in 2001, culminating with a severe explosion, despite that wool is recognized as the most flame-resistant among the natural textile fibers. The analysis of this exceptional event suggests that, in addition to classical explosion parameters, three key phenomena related to the process jointly contributed to trigger the otherwise unexpected combustion of wool flock suspensions. The first and more important phenomenon is represented by the segregation of dust mixtures occurring during processing of textile fibers and storage of byproduct. Segregation may isolate and concentrate the lighter component of wool processing byproduct as a flammable dust. The main conclusion of our analysis is that, when performing risk assessment, sampling of all materials is a necessary step, since flammability and explosivity of raw materials may not be representative of the safety of the whole process. The second phenomenon is the enhancement of the combustion of the flammable...

Polypropylene-cellulose Innovative Compounding Technology

Lightweight construction and recyclability are essential factors when it comes to meeting environmental targets. Natural fibre-reinforced composites (NFCs) have an important role to play here. The density of natural fibre materials is up to 50% lower than that of the reinforcing fibres traditionally used for plastics, such as glass fibres, and as well as being fully recyclable the composites offer 100% thermal energy recovery.

Polypropylene-Cellulose Innovative Compounding Technology

Lightweight construction and recyclability are essential factors when it comes to meeting environmental targets. Natural fibre-reinforced composites (NFCs) have an important role to play here. The density of natural fibre materials is up to 50% lower than that of the reinforcing fibres traditionally used for plastics, such as glass fibres, and as well as being fully recyclable the composites offer 100% thermal energy recovery.

Fluorescence monitoring of ionic liquid-facilitated biopolymer mobilization and reorganization.

Ionic liquid-facilitated mobilization and reorganization of biopolymers in natural fibrous materials is visualized by confocal fluorescent spectromicroscopy. Ionic liquid-based processes controllably fuse adjacent fibres while simultaneously leaving selected amounts of biopolymers in their native states. These processes generate congealed materials with extended intermolecular hydrogen bonding networks and enhanced properties.

Enhanced Switching Median Filter for Denoising in 2D Patterned Textile Images

Wallpaper fabric, a part of patterned fabric, is a new decorative material covered with fabric or other natural fibre materials. Wallpaper fabrics are different from other indoor decorative materials and are designed for daily use with easy maintenance instructions. Because of their high demand, quality assurance or fault detection and recognition, in wallpaper fabrics is important. One step that is important during fault detection is the removal of noise. A common type of noise that affects patterned fabric images is the impulse noise. In this paper, a method that modifies a switching median filter is proposed. The algorithm contains two stages, namely, noise detection stage and noise filtering stage. During noise detection a modified adaptive switching median filter with three new thresholds are used to remove the impulse noise. During filtering stage, an adaptive switching median filter is used to determine the size of the sliding window. To detect noisy pixels which are close to its neighbours that are normally missed with the traditional threshold of switching median filter, a modified threshold that considers the ranking order of the pixels in the sliding window is used. Both the enhanced stages improve the noise removal process while maintaining image details. The proposed denoising model was evaluated using three performance metrics, namely, PSNR, FoM and execution time. The experimental results showed that the proposed model is efficient in removing impulse noise with low and high noise density while preserving important image and edge details.

Modeling of the compaction response of jute fabrics in liquid composite molding processes

AbstractIn this work, the experimental data of the compaction behavior of jute woven fabrics obtained in a previous work were modeled. A brief description of the current theoretical models found in literature is presented. It was concluded that these theoretical models cannot be used on natural fiber fabrics due to the vast differences in fiber structure and fibers assembly among natural and synthetic fibers. Therefore, two empirical models commonly seen in literature were used to fit the experimental data: the power law and the exponential function. In addition, a novel model was proposed, which represented much better the compaction behavior of the fabrics. The stress relaxation was also modeled using three empirical models: a power law, a first‐order exponential function, and a second‐order exponential function. The two‐parameter power law model fitted the relaxation curve as well as the five‐parameter exponential function. On the other hand, the first‐order exponential function could not represent properly the relaxation stage. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

Paper deacidification and UV protection using ZnO atomic layer deposition

Acid degradation of cellulosic paper in archival books, periodicals, and historic documents is a serious and widespread problem. Using acidic page samples from ∼40 year old books, we demonstrate that atomic layer deposition (ALD) ZnO can adjust and controllably neutralize the paper acid content. The paper samples were collected and analyzed in accordance with recognized Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) test standards. The average pH of the starting paper was 3.7 ± 0.4 and 4.4 ± 0.1 as determined using the TAPPI surface probe and cold water extraction methods, respectively. After 50 ALD ZnO cycles, the same tests on the coated paper produced an average pH of 7.39 ± 0.08 and 7.3 ± 0.4, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed that the cellulose structure remained intact during ALD. Additional tests of recently printed newspaper samples coated with ALD ZnO also show that ALD can effectively prevent paper discoloration and embrittlement caused by UV sunlight photoexposure. While there are many known methods for paper preservation, including others using diethyl zinc, the control afforded by ALD provides attractive advantages over other known approaches for preservation of archival paper and other natural fibrous materials.

셀룰로오스 섬유 종류에 따른 콘크리트의 기초 물성 평가에 관한 연구

콘크리트의 특성상 상대적으로 작은 인장강도로 인하여 균열에 취약한 성질을 가지고 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 무근 콘크리트의 균열저감을 위하여 천연섬유 중 성능이 우수한 것으로 알려진 황마섬유에 대하여 다른 종류의 셀룰로오스 섬유와 비교 검토하여 보았다. 그 결과 황마 섬유의 경우 유동성 측면에서 다른 섬유에 비하여 양호한 결과를 나타내었고, 특히 소성수축 균열 저항성의 경우 혼입량 0.9 및 1.2 kg/<TEX>$m^3$</TEX>에서 플레인 대비 50 % 이상의 균열저감 성능을 발휘하였으며, 충격시험의 경우 WF 및 PULP 섬유에서 최종파괴까지 5회의 낙하횟수가 걸리는 반면 황마섬유는 혼입량에 따라 차이가 있지만 10~18회로 우수한 인성적 성질을 발휘하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. Topping concrete that is not reinforced with rebar to prevent poor tensile performance is vulnerable to cracking. In this study, jute, which is known to be an excellent natural fiber material for strengthening concrete performance, was compared with other cellulose fibers in terms of its capacity to reduce the cracking of concrete. As a result, it was found that compared with concrete using other fibers, concrete using jute fiber showed more than a 50 % reduction of plastic shrinkage crack resistance with the contents of 0.9 kg/<TEX>$m^3$</TEX> and 1.2 kg/<TEX>$m^3$</TEX> for. For impact strength tests, the final destruction of WF and PULP fibers took up to 5 times the number of falls, while jute has 10-18 circuitry, showing excellent ductility properties.

A Novel 3-D Testing System for the Mechanical Properties of Fiber Fabrics and Textile Composites

To evaluate the mechanical properties of natural fiber fabrics with the characteristic of interweaving between warp and weft direction as well as textile structural composites under complex stress state, it is essential to develop experimental techniques to realize multi-axial testing for large deformation. This work proposes a novel testing device for investigating fiber fabrics and textile composites under multidimensional loads. Accuracy of the system is comparable to the testing diagnostics of the Instron 5808 previously. The homogeneity for different types of cruciforms and different biaxial tensile speeds were investigated. The effects of different loading methods, biaxial (X and Y), and 3-D loading (X, Y, and Z) on the breaking strength of the woven ramie fabric were presented. The displacement-field and shear field for composites with hole were characterized by the digital speckle correlation method.

A conserved RNA recognition motif (RRM) domain of Brassica napus FCA improves cotton fiber quality and yield by regulating cell size

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an important crop that is used to produce both natural textile fiber and cottonseed oil. Cotton fiber is a unicellular trichome, whose length is critical to fiber quality and yield but difficult to modify. FCA was originally identified based on flowering time control in Arabidopsis. The function of the second RNA recognition motif (RRM) domain of Oryza sativa FCA in rice cell-size regulation has been previously reported, showing it to be highly conserved across dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants. The present study showed that the second RRM domain of Brassica napus FCA functioned in Gossypium hirsutum, leading to enlargement of multiple cell types, such as pollen, cotyledon petiole, and cotton fiber. In the resulting transgenic cotton, fiber length increased by ~10% and fiber yield per plant showed a dramatic increase, ranging from 35 to 66% greater than controls. Thus, this RRM domain may be a cell-size regulator and have great economic value in the cotton industry.

Permeability anisotropy of flax nonwoven mats in vacuum‐assisted resin transfer molding

The resin flow characteristics of natural fiber mats must be taken into consideration in the design and optimization of liquid composite molding processes. This paper studied two common types of nonwoven mat structures produced by the parallel‐laying process and the cross‐laying process. The flax fiber orientation distribution characteristics of these mats were determined by using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) image analysis algorithm. Flax fiber mats produced by the parallel‐laying method had a prominent principal direction of fiber orientation, while mats produced by the cross‐laying method had a nearly random fiber orientation. The parallel‐laid mats showed a higher overall compressibility than the cross‐laid mats because of the tendency of nesting between layers of parallel fibers, leading to a lower porosity under the same vacuum level and thus a lower overall permeability. The cross‐laid nonwoven mats demonstrated nearly isotropic in‐plane permeability, while the parallel‐laid mats showed a much higher permeability in the principal fiber direction than in the orthogonal direction.

Electronic Textiles: Atomic Layer Deposition of Conductive Coatings on Cotton, Paper, and Synthetic Fibers: Conductivity Analysis and Functional Chemical Sensing Using “All‐Fiber” Capacitors (Adv. Funct. Mater. 11/2011)

Electronic functionalization of complex fiber systems is important for new applications in energy systems and electronic textiles. The cover image shows a natural fibrous material with and without conductive coating. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) of conductive coatings on natural and synthetic fibrous materials show high conductivity, and the values scale as expected with film thickness and bulk-material conductance. On page 1993, Jesse S. Jur and co-workers present an all-fiber-based capacitor formed by ALD on textiles that shows good sensing performance in several liquid media.

Mechanical properties of a woven ramie fabric under multidimensional loadings

Mechanical properties of woven ramie fabric under 3D loadings are fundamental to optimizing the design of woven composites that are frequently subjected to complex stress states. This work proposes a novel 3D test analysis system for evaluating woven natural-fiber fabrics under multidimensional loads. The effects of different loading directions, uniaxial (X direction), biaxial (X and Y), bursting (Z direction), and 3D loading (X, Y, and Z) on the breaking strength of the woven ramie (Boehmeria nivea) fabric were compared. Weft breaking strength was lower than that of warp under uniaxial tension. Variability in warp and weft increased in biaxial tension. Bursting strength was significantly affected by the type of loading head used, with an R20 spherical head producing the highest strength values. Warp and weft were positively correlated under biaxial tension, r = 0.58. The synergistic effect of bursting strength accounted for 12.5% of the total correlation under 3D loadings.

Microstructure, rheology and storage stability of low-fat yoghurt structured by carrot cell wall particles

Plant cell wall particles derived from fruits and vegetables are natural fibre materials with a low calorie content that can be used as a healthy alternative to gum stabilisers and starches for structuring low-fat yoghurt. In this study we investigated the effect of cell wall particle (CWP) addition on the gelation kinetics, viscoelastic properties, microstructure, texture and whey loss of the set yoghurt gels as a function of CWP concentration, particle size and storage time. Three particle sizes of dried carrot CWP ( d 0.5 = 34, 71 and 80 μm) were produced from an industrial carrot pomace. Rehydrated CWP was added to skim milk prior to acidification. The results showed that the addition of carrot CWP accelerated the rate of pH reduction and induced earlier gelation. The gel viscoelastic properties were enhanced with increased CWP concentration. This was accompanied with progressive reduction in the whey loss. The smallest cell wall particles ( d 0.5 = 34 μm) gave better gel strength and lower whey loss compared to the larger CWP particles, possibly due to higher contact between the CWP and casein particles thus contributing to the stronger gel network. The CLSM images of yoghurt gels containing CWP showed that carrot CWP occupied the void space within casein particle network. The enhanced gel strength and reduced whey loss achieved by the addition of CWP were maintained throughout the 28 day storage period. The reduction of fermentation processing by almost 1 h, yet still achieving good gel properties for the yoghurt type product could be a significant benefit from a manufacturing point of review.

Polyploidization Altered Gene Functions in Cotton (Gossypium spp.)

Cotton (Gossypium spp.) is an important crop plant that is widely grown to produce both natural textile fibers and cottonseed oil. Cotton fibers, the economically more important product of the cotton plant, are seed trichomes derived from individual cells of the epidermal layer of the seed coat. It has been known for a long time that large numbers of genes determine the development of cotton fiber, and more recently it has been determined that these genes are distributed across At and Dt subgenomes of tetraploid AD cottons. In the present study, the organization and evolution of the fiber development genes were investigated through the construction of an integrated genetic and physical map of fiber development genes whose functions have been verified and confirmed. A total of 535 cotton fiber development genes, including 103 fiber transcription factors, 259 fiber development genes, and 173 SSR-contained fiber ESTs, were analyzed at the subgenome level. A total of 499 fiber related contigs were selected and assembled. Together these contigs covered about 151 Mb in physical length, or about 6.7% of the tetraploid cotton genome. Among the 499 contigs, 397 were anchored onto individual chromosomes. Results from our studies on the distribution patterns of the fiber development genes and transcription factors between the At and Dt subgenomes showed that more transcription factors were from Dt subgenome than At, whereas more fiber development genes were from At subgenome than Dt. Combining our mapping results with previous reports that more fiber QTLs were mapped in Dt subgenome than At subgenome, the results suggested a new functional hypothesis for tetraploid cotton. After the merging of the two diploid Gossypium genomes, the At subgenome has provided most of the genes for fiber development, because it continues to function similar to its fiber producing diploid A genome ancestor. On the other hand, the Dt subgenome, with its non-fiber producing D genome ancestor, provides more transcription factors that regulate the expression of the fiber genes in the At subgenome. This hypothesis would explain previously published mapping results. At the same time, this integrated map of fiber development genes would provide a framework to clone individual full-length fiber genes, to elucidate the physiological mechanisms of the fiber differentiation, elongation, and maturation, and to systematically study the functional network of these genes that interact during the process of fiber development in the tetraploid cottons.