Natural Fiber
Reversing the shift back to natural fibers
Once upon a time there were only natural fibers; in fact that is not very long ago! That said, synthetic fibers, such as polyester and nylon have been around since the 1930s, and in the 1980s synthetic fibers started surpassing natural fibers in marketshare. Most synthetic fibers were developed from their early conception to mimic …
Palm-based fiber provides a truly sustainable alternative for various applications
A consortium of five Egyptian researchers have developed the world’s first high-performance fibers and reinforcements extracted from the byproducts of pruning of date palms, such as frond and fruit stalks, also known as PalmFil. The fiber is not only sustainable, but also economical in manufacturing, compatible with textile and composite processing and offers the properties …
COVID, trade disputes & the global cotton market
COVID-19 is the macro event of our lifetimes, affecting the life and business of virtually everyone on the planet. For the global economy, the speed and depth of the pandemic’s effects represented an unprecedented shock. Global impact In their report released near the end of January, the International Monetary Fund was predicting 2020 would be …
Previewing The Fiber Year 2020
The 20th anniversary edition of The Fiber Year includes important improvements for participants along the value chain – a distinct differentiation between fiber supply and the volume entering textile processing. This refers to fiber inventory changes and delivers enhanced insights into processing volumes. A projection for last year‘s final end-use will enrich key figures along …
Student Spotlight: Morphological structure of wool from different breeds
Subhadeep Paul is pursuing his Ph.D. in Technical Textiles at the Technical Textiles Research Centre, University of Huddersfield. Paul came to Huddersfield after completing his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Textile Engineering and Textile Chemistry, respectively, in India. In his master’s project, Paul developed a multi-functional protective textile that could be used as a UV-resistant, …