Chemical composition, morphology and structure of cotton

The apparel industry is pre-dominantly cotton based and the share of cotton in total fibre consumption is about 70-75%. The cotton productivity of major countries is depicted in Table 1.3. 

Cotton is single cell fibre and develops from the epidermis of the seed [4]. An elongation period continues for 17-25 days after flowering. Cotton consists of cellulosic and non-cellulosic material. A morphological structure of the cotton fibre is given in Fig. 1-1. The outer most layer of the cotton fibre is the cuticle, covered by waxes and pectins, and this surrounds a primary wall, built of cellu- 

Cotton consists of practically pure cellulose and may be chemically described as poly (1, 4-B-D- anhydroglucopyranose) (Fig. 1-2). The helical reversal struc- 

When cotton fibres dry from their initial fully swollen state, the cell wall collapse to give a typical kidney-shaped (Fig. 1-3) cross-sections and the different 

In the crystalline part, the cellobiose units are closely packed to form Cellulose I in native cellulose fibres and Cellulose II in regenerated cellulose fibres. In Cellulose I the chain molecules are parallel to one another [16]. The folded chain occurs at Cellulose II, in the crystalline regions the chain molecules are antiparallel. Thus, the basis for helical structure for Cellulose I is preferably extended to the structure of Cellulose II [17]. 

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