Textile products produced from alternative fibers

Textile products produced from alternative fibers 

Approximately five biUion pounds of poultry feathers are produced annually by the poultry processing industry. In an effort to dispose of these feathers, they are usually converted to animal feed. However, a method of stripping the quill from the feather fibers without damaging the fibers has been patented by the USD A and cost estimates for these fibers range from 0.50 to 2.00 per pound, with current 

Misra et al. discovered that chicken feather fibers can be nsed as filters to remove heavy metals through the process of biosorption. They reported that the fibers could remove gold, platinum, lead, copper, and several other heavy metals from solutions. Several researchers have incorporated feather fibers into composites. Schmidt blended feather fibers with polyethylene fibers, and then melted them together, while others have used thermoset matrices, to form composites for potential use as air filters, automotive panels, and shaped plastic parts, where the feather fiber can replace glass fibers as material reinforcement. Others are evaluating the feather fibers for use in resin transfer molding.  

Most of the research has focused on chicken feather fibers, as they are more readily available and have a lower modulus than turkey feather fibers, but are also shorter in length than the turkey feather fibers. Feathers can be divided into three basic sections, as depicted in Fig. 11.1 the quill, the pennaceous fibers, which are located on the upper portion of the quill, and the plumulaceous fibers, which extend from the lower part of the quill. The plumulaceous fibers usually consist of a stem with two to three branches attached, and are soft and flexible, while the 

Research condncted with turkey feather fibers has focused on producing yams and knit fabrics containing these fibers, as weU as producing latex bonded nonwoven fabrics for use in erosion control materials. 

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Textile products produced from alternative fibers... 

Polypropylene is a versatile plastic with applications ranging from packaging to automobile and textile industry. It possesses properties similar to those of PE and hence, competes with PE in several product applications. It is generally used in packaging applications as an alternative to PE. Due to its higher stability, PE is generally preferred over PP in applications where the product is to be used in an oxidative enviromnent. However, the oxidative stability of PP can be improved through addition of antioxidants. Textile industry is another major area of application for PP where it is primarily used to produce synthetic fibers (Maier and Calafut, 1998 Miller, 2009). 

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