Types of Man-Made Fibers Used in Textiles

Any fiber or filament that is manufactured by human efforts is called a Man-Made Fiber. The chemical, physical, thermal, and optical properties of Man-Made Fibers are significantly modified during their manufacturing process. The consumption of Man-Made Fibers in textiles is sharply increasing day by day. Now its market share is above 60% of the total fiber consumption. There are some distinct properties of Man-Made Fibers than those that are synthesized naturally. In this article, we discuss details on the Types of Man-Made Fibers Used in Textiles.

Man-made or chemical fibers are those fibers whose chemical composition, properties, and structures are significantly modified during the manufacturing process. This type of fiber consists of regenerated fibers and synthetic fibers. Types of Man-Made Fibers Used in Textiles in the following.

In the case of regenerated fiber, the molecules in thread-state are separated from organic natural objects and collected. These are separated from each other completely and arranged in order once again. Thus, the fiber is formed. In the case of synthetic fiber, the molecules in the thread state are synthesized and chemically synthesized. The thread state fibers are arranged to form these fibers. In the case of an inorganic fiber, it is formed by turning an inorganic object into a fine fiber state.

Types of Man-Made Fibers:

Man-Made Fibers may be classified in different ways. It is broadly categorized into two major classes as Types of Man-Made Fibers Used in Textiles, in the following:

A. Organic man-made fiber:
Man-Made Fiber made from organic materials that have hydrocarbon on its main chain is known as Organic Man-Made Fiber. These fibers are very popular for use in daily products like clothing. Organic Man-Made Fibers may be of two types on the basis of their origin of sources, these are-

a) Regenerated Man-Made Fiber: If a Man-Made Fiber is synthesized by the regeneration of natural organic natural polymers, this is called Regenerated Man-Made Fiber. It follows the regeneration process on which the natural polymer is modified and regenerated. Regenerated fiber is divided into four groups-

Cellulosic fiber: Cellulosic Fibers are regenerated from cellulosic materials like wood pulp and particles collected from eucalyptus, beech, and pine, as well as bamboo, soy, sugar cane etc. It is also synthesized from Cellulosic short fibers. Cellulosic regenerated fibers are popular for their better uniformity, strength, moisture content and other benefits. Example: Viscose Rayon, Cupro, Modal etc.
Cellulosic ester: Cellulosic esters are regenerated from cellulosic materials like cotton linters during reaction with an acid anhydride which yields a carboxylic acid and a cellulose ester. Example: Acetate, triacetate etc. These fibers are very popular for low cost and fair draping properties. Trade names of some acetate fibers are Acele, Avisco, Celanese, Estron etc.
Protein-based fiber: Protein-based regenerated fibers are manufactured from animal or vegetable proteins. The non-fibrous form of protein is converted into fibrous form through regeneration of polymer chain. Example: Casein, Zeir, Azlon etc.
Miscellaneous: There are some other regenerated fibers as- Alginate, Rubber etc.

Rayon yarns and staple fibers belong to this category. It can be further classified as follows:

-The fibers manufactured from cellulose (Viscose rayon, viscose staple fiber, Bemberg etc.).
-The fibers prepared from vegetable allbuminous substance (Soyabean casein fiber, peanut albumin fiber, maize protein fiber etc.).
-The fibers prepared from animal albuminous substance (Cow’s milk casein fiber).

However, out of these too, the most important ones are the fibers from cellulose, especially, the rayon and staple fiber produced by viscose method.

b) Synthetic Man-Made Fiber: If a Man-Made Fiber is synthesized from synthetic polymers based on petrochemicals, this is called Synthetic Man-Made Fiber. Synthetic Man-Made Fibers are divided into six groups-

Polyamide: Polyamide refers to the fiber having amide bonds on its main polymer chain. It may be aliphatic, semi-aromatic or aromatic chain polymer. Most popular polyamides are Nylon and Aramid.
Polyester: Chemical name of Polyester is polyethylene terephthalate or simply PET. Polyester is the fiber having ester group in every repeat unit of the polymer chain. It is mostly synthesized from petroleum. Example: Dacron, Terylene, Kodel etc.
Polyvinyl derivative: Two types of Polyvinyl derivatives are very popular for textile fibers as Acrylic and Mod acrylic. Chemical name of Acrylic is Polyacrylonitrile.
Polyolefin: Polyolefin fibers are chemically the aliphatic polymeric hydrocarbons. It is generally composed of ethene, propene or other olefin units in its polymeric chain. These are popular for having high tensile strength, abrasion resistance and chemical resistance. Example: Reevon, Courlene etc.
Polyurethane: Polyurethane fiber is rubber like elastomeric in nature. It has high elasticity that can be stretched several times of its actual length and can retain quickly and completely with the removal of loads. It is popularly known as Lycra or Spandex.
Miscellaneous: There are some other special and distinct types of synthetic fibers. Example: Core spun etc.

There are different types of synthetic fibers, but among those, polyamide series was prepared at the beginning and it is widely used in the world even today. Nylon is one of its representatives.

The next ones, close on its heels are fibers of polyester series (Tetron, Terylene, Dekron etc.) and fibers of Polyacryl series (Oron, Exlan, Bonnel, cashmilon etc.). Apart from these, the fibers of polyvinyl alcohol series (Vinylon) and fibers of polypropylene series (Pylene) are also growing relatively. However, these have not developed as much as expected at the beginning.

In accordance, the production volume of polyester is at the forefront in our country. Polyester, Nylon and Acryl are the three main synthetic fibers.

Semi-Synthetic Fiber:

Acetate rayon is another man-made fiber, but unlike viscose rayo,n etc, the cellulose is made to undergo acetic oxidation and it is turned to acetic acid cellulose. This is dissolved in a solvent and spun into man-made fiber.

Therefore, chemically, it can also be called as semi-synthetic fiber. In addition, the fiber called chinon which is a fiber made after co-polymerization of natural properties and synthetic properties. It also belongs to this group. However, this name s only a logical term and it is not used much in the general market.

B. Inorganic Man-Made Fiber:
Man-Made Fiber made from inorganic materials which has no hydrocarbon on its main chain, is known as Inorganic Man-Made Fiber. These fibers are specially used for technical and functional textiles. These fibers are often used to reinforce plastics to form composites. Example: Fibers made from glass, metal, carbon or ceramic.

Among the man-made inorganic fibers, glass fiber and rock wool are the two substances which came into use comparatively early and which still have a good demand and production. Apart from these, there are carbon fibers, Silicon carbonization fiber and Stainless steel fiber. However, their production volume is very low. Their cost is high, and the usage is also limited to some specific objects.