Wool

Abstract

Wool, the fibrous coating from sheep, is the most important animal fiber used by the textile industry. It has been used continuously for several thousand years, the earliest type of fabric made from wool probably being a felt. Although the relative importance of wool as a textile fiber has declined with the increasing use of synthetic fibers, it remains important in some sectors of the market. This article discusses raw wool specification, fiber growth, its complex morphological and chemical structure, and the physical properties that make wool unique among textile fibers. Also discussed are the processing steps used to transform raw wool into consumer products, namely, scouring, carbonizing, carding, spinning, setting, dyeing, bleaching, printing, and treatments to reduce felting shrinkage, insect damage, and flammability. A new textile fiber made from wool (Optim™, CSIRO) is also described.

Effects of wool fibres, ammonium polyphosphate and polymer viscosity on the flammability and mechanical performance of PP/wool composites

“…Until recently, protein based animal fibres have not been used as much as plant fibres in the composites field in spite of their numerous advantages, namely durability, chemical inertness and pliable properties [5]. Wool can be regarded as a typical class of the animal fibres and morphologically it can be differentiated from plant fibres, Fig.…”

Merino Becomes Noble: A study of nanogold, wool and nanogold–wool composites

“…The shorter-wavelength dips are located at 510-530 nm for all the coated fabrics, which is attributed to the fact that the transverse plasmon resonance wavelength of Au nanorods is nearly insensitive to the aspect ratio. 3,5,22,23 In addition, the longerwavelength dips observed on the reectance spectra are generally slightly blue-shied relative to those for the nanorods dispersed in aqueous solutions. As discussed above, this difference arises from the reduction in the refractive index of the surrounding medium when the Au nanorods are adsorbed on the fabrics.…”

“…With increasing pH, the fibres possess a net negative charge as a result of the deprotonation of the acidic carboxyl groups [Equation (1.1)]. [22,23] H 3 N + -wool-COOH Although the amphoteric character of wool in Equation (1.1) is highly simplified, it illustrates the net surface charge of wool fibres adequately on a macroscopic scale. On a microscopic scale, the amino acid distribution in the fibre is heterogeneous and differs significantly from region to region of the fibre.…”