Structure of cotton

J. O. Warwicker, R. Jeffries, R. L. Colbran, and R. N. Robinson, H Eeview of the Eiterature on the Effect of Caustic Soda and Other Swelling Hgents on the Fine Structure of Cotton, Shirley Institute Pamphlet No. 93, Shirley Institute, Didsbury, Manchester, UK, 1966. 

Raw cotton fiber, after ginning and mechanical cleaning, is approximately 95% cellulose (Table 3.1) [96-99]. The structure of cotton cellulose, a linear polymer of (3-D-glucopyranose, is discussed in Chapter 5 and chemical properties in Chapter 6. 

Deuterium, moisture, iodine, and bromine sorption have been utilized for investigating the supramolecular structure of cotton and mercerized cotton. The methods have been described elsewhere [251]. Average ordered fractions are given in Table 5.2. 

Kassenback, P., Incidence of Bilateral Structure of Cotton Fibers, in First International Symposium on Cotton Textile Research, Paris, 1969, p. 455. 

Figure I. Structure of cotton fibers showing (A) cross section of a single fiber (B) cell wall expanded to separate the concentric growth layers within the secondary wall and (C) diagrammatic sketch of the organization of a single cotton fiber and the orientation of microfibrils within each layer (59)...

S. O. Rowland and E. J. Roberts, Selective accessibilities of hydroxyl groups in the micro structure of cotton cellulose. Text. Res. J., 39 (1969) 530-542. 

As noted above, the fine structure of cotton fibers is similar to that of the wood tracheid cells discussed in Section 9.8. Thus, grafting can occur on the outer and inner surfaces, as well as in the amorphous portions of the fiber. 

Compare the molecular structures of cotton and polypropylene, the two major components of thermal underwear. One of these gets wet easily and holds the water in contact with the skin. The other one does not get wet, bul wicks the water away ftom the skin and feels relatively dry to the touch. Explain the difference in how these two fabrics respond to moisture. 

Figure 1. Structures of cotton phytoalexins, dHG -desoxyhemigossypol dMHG — desoxyhemigossypol-6-methyl ether HG - hemigossypol MHG - hemigoss)rpol-6-methyl ether.

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