Understanding Textile Materials - Bamboo Fiber

Products made from bamboo fibers can be naturally degraded in soil, and after decomposition, they have no pollution to the environment. They are a natural, green, and environmentally friendly textile raw material, with broad application prospects in the textile industry.
So, how is green and environmentally friendly bamboo fiber produced for textile purposes? What are the excellent performance and development prospects?
1. Source and characteristics of raw materials
China has 39 genera and over 500 species of bamboo plants, ranking first in the world in terms of area, storage capacity, bamboo product production, and export value. The bamboo forest area accounts for one-third of the world's total area, making it the country with the richest bamboo resources and the longest history of utilizing bamboo resources. It is known as the "Kingdom of Bamboo".
Bamboo has a short growth period and can be harvested in 2-3 years. Moreover, if planted for a long time, bamboo can grow up to 3 feet overnight. It can quickly grow and renew, replacing resources such as cotton and wood, and achieving sustainable utilization.
The raw material of bamboo pulp fiber is bamboo, which is a type of bamboo fiber, but it is different from traditional bamboo raw fibers. Bamboo fibers are divided into two categories, namely bamboo raw fibers and chemical bamboo fibers, which are further divided into bamboo pulp fibers and bamboo charcoal fibers.
Bamboo charcoal fiber is a fiber product made by using nanoscale bamboo charcoal powder and a special process (using water as the medium, under the action of an emulsifying dispersant, and mechanical stirring to evenly disperse the bamboo charcoal powder into a suspension), which is added to a viscose spinning solution and then spun through a similar conventional spinning process. Bamboo charcoal micropowder is a new calcination process that uses pure oxygen, high temperature, and nitrogen to block and delay the production of bamboo. It is made by airflow pulverization and surface modification. Generally, the particle size of bamboo charcoal micropowder does not exceed 3 μ m. The bamboo charcoal micro powder used for spinning bamboo charcoal polyester is generally 0.5 μ Below m. Then, pre spinning injection technology is used to evenly disperse it into the viscose solution, and then wet spinning is carried out to obtain viscose bamboo charcoal fibers.
At present, there are bamboo charcoal viscose fibers, bamboo charcoal polyester, bamboo charcoal nylon, bamboo charcoal magnetic fibers developed and developed. Bamboo charcoal viscose fiber is prepared by adding nanoscale bamboo charcoal powder emulsion during the spinning process and using solution spinning method; The production of bamboo charcoal polyester and bamboo charcoal nylon involves adding prepared bamboo charcoal masterbatches to the chips and spinning them through melt spinning. Bamboo charcoal particles generally use adhesive substrates because cellulose has much higher breathability than synthetic fiber resin chips, making it suitable for the development of new generation functional fibers.
3. Production process
The preparation method of bamboo pulp fibers is similar to that of ordinary viscose fibers, and can also be produced using a new solvent spinning method.
Viscose spinning method is the most widely used preparation process for producing bamboo pulp fibers. The specific process is as follows: first, bamboo pulp and fiber pulp are prepared using sulfate cooking and multi-stage bleaching process. Then, the pulp is treated with alkali and carbon disulfide to dissolve in sodium hydroxide solution to form a viscose solution. Finally, bamboo pulp and fiber are spun using wet spraying and wet spinning processes.
Preparation process of bamboo pulp pulp
Production process of bamboo pulp fiber
4. Performance characteristics of bamboo pulp fibers
Due to its unique structure and preparation process, bamboo pulp fibers have excellent properties such as moisture retention, breathability, antibacterial properties, and UV resistance.
(1) Good moisture absorption and breathability
Bamboo pulp fiber is a regenerated cellulose fiber with a porous network structure and abundant hydrophilic groups. It has good moisture absorption and a moisture regain rate of 13% under standard conditions, ranking first among all fibers in terms of moisture absorption rate.
Therefore, bamboo pulp fiber textiles make people feel particularly cool and comfortable. They are used in the winter and spring seasons, which are both fluffy and comfortable, and can eliminate excess heat and moisture. They are known as "breathable" ecological products.
(2) Good antibacterial performance
Due to the presence of bamboo quinone factors with antibacterial and mite removal properties in bamboo, bamboo fibers have natural antibacterial properties and do not cause allergic reactions to the skin.
(3) Has a deodorizing effect
Bamboo pulp fibers have natural deodorization properties, mainly because they contain deodorizing substances such as chlorophyll and chlorophyllin, which can be removed through adsorption and oxidative decomposition pathways. In addition, bamboo pulp fibers sweat quickly, which makes the living environment for microorganisms poor and can also achieve deodorization effects.
(4) Has anti ultraviolet effect
Bamboo pulp fibers contain chlorophyll copper sodium, which is a safe and excellent ultraviolet absorber that can effectively block the radiation of ultraviolet rays on the human body.
(5) Dyeing performance and dye uptake
Bamboo pulp fibers have a porous network structure and low crystallinity. Reactive dyes can quickly adsorb onto bamboo pulp fibers, resulting in high initial dyeing rate and short dyeing time. Multi layer physical adsorption is formed between reactive dyes and bamboo pulp fibers through hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces, resulting in high dye uptake.
(6) Mechanical properties
Table Mechanical Property Test Results of Bamboo Pulp Fibers