Man-Made Fibres

The term “man-made” refers to fibres in which either the basic chemical units have been manufactured by chemical synthesis followed by fibre production or the polymers from natural sources have been dissolved and regenerated after passing through a spinneret to form fibres. 

Artificial fibres are those that are manufactured through chemical synthesis, whereas fibres that are regenerated from natural polymer sources are referred to as regenerated fibres or natural polymer fibres. 

Synthetic fibres are those that are manufactured through chemical synthesis. In other words, because man is involved in the actual fibre manufacturing process, all synthetic fibres and regenerated fibres are considered to be man-made fibres

Natural fibres such as silk, cotton, and wool, on the other hand, are not the same as man-made fibres. 

Artificial Fibres

Artificial fibres can be divided into two categories:-

Synthetic fibres 

Regenerated fibres. 

The most popular type of fibre is synthetic fibre.

Regenerated fibres are made from cellulose polymers, which are found in plants such as cotton, wood, hemp, and flax and are used to make new fibres. 

Polymers derived from cellulose, such as rayon and acetate, two of the first man-made fibres to be manufactured, were used to make materials such as rayon and acetate. 

This facility was used to gather plant cellulose, which was then converted into fibres.

Polymers contained in natural gas and petroleum by-products are used to make synthetic fibres, which are the only sources of these fibres.

Nylon, acrylics, polyurethane, and polypropylene are some of the materials used. 

Every year, millions of tonnes of these fibres are produced all over the world, resulting in a global industry.

Natural Fibre

Natural Polymer fibres are a type of fibre that is found in nature.

This category of fibres can be further subdivided into the following subcategories :-

• Cellulose fibres 
•  Cellulose ester

• Protein fibres 

Synthetic Fibres

Natural fibres have been used in the textile industry since the dawn of time, according to human tradition. 

However, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries experienced an industrial revolution that resulted in a huge increase in the production of fibre. 

Depending on their chemical structure, synthetic fibres can be divided into several categories.

The following synthetic materials have evolved into the building blocks of economically viable fibres :-

1. Polyamides
2. Polyesters
3. Polyvinyl acetate and its derivatives
4. Polyacrylonitrile
5. Polyvinyl chloride is a kind of plastic.
6. Polyvinylidene chloride is a type of plastic.
7. Polyvinyl alcohol is a kind of alcohol.
8. Polytetrafluoroethylene
9. Polyvinylidene dinitrile is a kind of plastic.
10. Polystyrene
11. Polyvinyl derivatives
12. Polyolefins
13. Polyethylene
14. Polypropylene
15. Polyurethanes

Making synthetic fibres

Solution spinning (either wet or dry), melt spinning, gel spinning (a variety of solution spinning), and emulsion spinning (another variation of solution spinning) are some of the spinning techniques used in the manufacture of man-made fibre (another variation of solution spinning).

Spinning

A spinning process is an extrusion technique of fluid polymer masses that can harden in a continuous flow via bored devices (spinnerets) that are used to manufacture plastic products.

The transformation of polymers from the solid to the fluid state can be accomplished by using two methods:

Melting 

It is possible to use this technology on thermoplastic polymers that exhibit steady performance at the processing temperatures used in this procedure (this method is employed by 70 percent of the fibres) The majority of fibres (70 percent) employ this technique.

By solution:

The polymer is in solution at varying quantities depending on the type of polymer and the solvent used, but in sufficient concentrations to form a viscous liquid of sufficient viscosity (dope) 

(This approach is employed by 30% of the fibres in this experiment) (this method is used by 30 percent of the fibres). 

Dry spinning 

Soluble solvents are removed from extruded filaments using warm gas flows that are suitably directed to them; the temperature of the gas should be higher than the boiling temperature of the solvent, which will be extracted from the filaments and collected before being recycled.

Wet spinning

Based on the introduction of an extruded polymeric viscose into coagulation baths in which the liquor, typically water, acts as a solvent towards the polymer solution and as a non-solvent towards the polymer mass, this spinning method is used.

Conclusion

Fabrics composed of man-made fibres are created from a variety of chemicals, or they are regenerated from plant fibres. 

Polyester, polyamide – (nylon), acrylics, viscose, which is created from oak bark, Kevlar, which is a high-performance fibre, and Nomex, which is also a high-performance fibre are examples of synthetic fibres.

Man-made fibres or human manufactured fibres are those fibres whose structure, characteristics and chemical contents are altered extensively during the production process.

Man-made fibres are manufactured by spun and woven for the manufacturing of a vast range of consumer and industrial products such as clothes, home furnishings etc. 

Examples of man-made fibres include rayon, nylon, and polyester fibres, among others.