Fiber

Previous (Fever) (/entry/Fever) Next (Fiberglass) (/entry/Fiberglass)

The term fiber (or fibre[1]) is used for a class of materials that consist of continuous
filaments or are in discrete elongated pieces, similar to lengths of thread. Fibers are of
great importance in the biology (/entry/Biology) of both plants (/entry/Plant) and animals
(/entry/Animal), for holding tissues (/entry/Tissue_(biology)) together. Humans
(/entry/Human) use natural and synthetic fibers for diverse purposes. For instance,
some fibers are spun into filaments, thread, string or rope. Some are components of
composite materials, others are matted into sheets for products such as paper (/entry/File:SEMexample.jp
(/entry/Paper) or felt (/entry/Felt). Image of a bend in a
polyester fiber with a high
surface area, as seen at

Contents Natural fibers high magnification with a

1 Natural fibers
1.1 Plant fibers
1.2 Animal fibers
1.3 Mineral fibers
scanning electron
Natural fibers include those derived from plant, microscope.
animal, and mineral sources.
Examples of natural fibers and
their sources are given below.

2 Artificial fibers
Plant fibers
2.1 Modified natural
materials Plant fibers may be derived from
2.2 Synthetic fibers fiber crops (such as cotton),
3 Uses of fibers trees (/entry/Tree), straw,
4 Dietary fiber bamboo (/entry/Bamboo), and (/entry/File:Cellulose-3D-balls.png)
5 See also sugarcane. Their main A three-dimensional model of a cellulose
6 Footnotes chain.
constituent is cellulose
7 References (/entry/Cellulose), which may
8 External links
also contain lignin. These fibers serve in the manufacture of paper
9 Credits
(/entry/Paper) and cloth and can be further categorized as follows.

Seed fiber: The fiber is obtained from the seed, such as cotton
Flash DSC 1 - (/entry/Cotton) and kapok.
Free Leaf fiber: The fiber is derived from the leaf, such as sisal and agave
Reference List (/entry/Agave).
This document lists many Bast fiber or skin fiber: The fiber is collected from the skin or base
of the available articles in surrounding the plant stem. These fibers have higher tensile strength than
the field of FDSC.
other fibers. They are therefore useful for durable yarn and fabric for
mt.com
packaging and paper. Examples include jute, kenaf, industrial hemp, ramie,
rattan, soybean fiber, vine fiber, and banana (/entry/Banana) fiber.
Fruit fiber: The fiber is collected from the fruit of the plant, such as coconut fiber (coir).
Stalk fiber: The fiber is derived from stalks of wheat, rice, barley, and other crops.

Animal fibers
Animal fibers are generally made of proteins. They can be subdivided as follows.

Animal hair: Various fibers are obtained from hairy mammals (/entry/Mammal). Examples include wool (from
sheep (/entry/Sheep)), goat hair (alpaca, cashmere), horse hair, and so forth.
 Silk fiber: This type of fiber is collected from the dried saliva of insect larvae that prepare cocoons
(/entry/Pupa#Cocoon). The main example is silk from silkworms (/entry/Silkworm).
Avian fiber: Some fibers are obtained from birds. Examples are feathers (/entry/Feather) and feather fiber.
Catgut: It is derived mainly from sheep intestines.
Sinew: Fibers obtained from animal tendons.

Mineral fibers
Mineral fibers may be used in their naturally occurring form or slightly modified before use. These fibers can be
categorized as follows.

Asbestos (/entry/Asbestos): It is the only naturally occurring, long mineral fiber. Varieties are serpentine
(chrysolite (/entry/Chrysolite)) and amphiboles (amosite, crocidolite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite).
(Short, fiberlike minerals include wollastinite, attapulgite, and halloysite.)
Ceramic (/entry/Ceramic) fibers: Glass fibers (glass wool and quartz (/entry/Quartz)), aluminum oxide, silicon
carbide, and boron carbide.
Metal (/entry/Metal) fibers: Some metals may be drawn out into fibers. An example is aluminum fibers.

Artificial fibers
Some artificial fibers are prepared by modifying natural raw materials, others are produced by chemical synthetic
methods.

Modified natural materials

Many types of fiber are manufactured from natural cellulose (/entry/Cellulose). They include rayon, modal, and
the more recently developed Lyocell. Cellulose-based fibers are of two types: (a) regenerated or pure cellulose,
such as from the cupro-ammonium process; and (b) modified or derivatized cellulose, such as cellulose
acetates.
Fiberglass (/entry/Fiberglass), made from specific glass formulas, and optical fiber (/entry/Optical_fiber), made
from purified natural quartz (/entry/Quartz), are also prepared by modifying natural raw materials.
Some metallic fibers are drawn from ductile metals such as copper (/entry/Copper), silver (/entry/Silver), or gold
(/entry/Gold). Others are extruded or deposited from relatively brittle metals, such as nickel (/entry/Nickel),
aluminum (/entry/Aluminum), or iron (/entry/Iron).

Synthetic fibers
Synthetic fibers are artificially prepared by chemical processes. The starting materials are often obtained from
petrochemical sources rather than from natural fibers. Examples of synthetic fibers include nylon (/entry/Nylon)
(polyamide), polyester (/entry/Polyester) (polyethylene terephthalate, or PET), phenol-formaldehyde (PF), polyvinyl
alcohol fiber (PVOH), polyvinyl chloride fiber (PVC), polyolefins (PP and PE), and acrylic polymers. Traditional acrylic
fiber is used more often as a synthetic replacement for wool.

Properties of synthetic fibers

Fiber structures: Most synthetic fibers have a rounded cross-section, but some fibers have special designs such
as hollow, oval, star-shaped, or trilobal. Newer fiber designs include extruding fiber that splits into multiple finer
fibers. Coextruded fibers have two distinct polymers forming the fiber. Some fibers (such as aramids) have
strong bonding between polymer chains, others have extremely long chains (including Dyneema or Spectra).

Fiber surfaces: These can be dull or bright. Dull surfaces reflect more light, while bright surfaces tend to
transmit light and make the fibers more transparent.

Crimping: Synthetic textile fibers are often crimped to provide bulk in a woven, nonwoven, or knitted stucture.
 Response to heat: Carbon fibers and PF fibers are resin-based fibers that are not thermoplastic, although most
others can be melted. Aromatic nylons such as Kevlar and Nomex thermally degrade at high temperatures and
do not melt.

Coated fibers: Some fibers may be nickel-coated to provide static elimination; silver-coated to provide anti-
bacterial properties, or aluminum-coated to provide radar chaff. Radar chaff is a spool of continuous glass tow
that has been aluminum coated. An aircraft-mounted high speed cutter chops it up as it spews from a moving
aircraft to foil radar signals.

Microfibers: In textiles, the term "microfiber" refers to sub-denier fiber (such as polyester drawn to 0.5 dn).
Denier and Detex are two measurements of fiber yield based on weight and length. In the case of technical
fibers, the term "microfibers" refers to ultrafine fibers (glass or meltblown thermoplastics) often used in filtration.

Uses of fibers
Papermaking: Wood fibers are treated by combining them with other additives. They are then processed into a
network of wood fibres, which constitutes the sheet of paper. The end paper product (paper, paperboard, tissue,
etc.) dictates the species, or species blend, that is best suited to provide the desirable sheet characteristics,
and also dictates the required fiber processing (chemical treatment, heat treatment, mechanical 'brushing' or
refining etc.).

Manufacture of cloth, carpeting, and so forth.

Production of rope, string, and so forth.

Data communications by optical fibers (/entry/Optical_fiber): An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber designed
to guide light (/entry/Light) along its length by total internal reflection. These fibers are widely used in fiber-optic
communication, which permits digital data transmission over longer distances and at higher data rates than
electronic communication. They are also used to form sensors and for various other applications.

Dietary fiber
Dietary fibers are the indigestible portion of plant foods that move food through the digestive system
(/entry/Digestive_system), absorbing water (/entry/Water). Chemically, dietary fiber consists of non-starch
(/entry/Starch) polysaccharides (/entry/Polysaccharide) and several other plant components such as cellulose
(/entry/Cellulose), lignin, waxes, chitins (/entry/Chitin), pectins, beta-glucans, inulin, and oligosaccharides.

Dietary fibers are usually subdivided as insoluble and soluble, based on their solubility in water. Both types are
present in all plant foods, with varying degrees of each according to a plants characteristics. Insoluble fibers have
passive, water-attracting properties that help increase bulk, soften stools, and shorten transit time through the
intestinal tract. Soluble fibers undergo active, metabolic processing to yield end-products with broad, significant
health effects.

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that eating high fiber foods, such as legumes
(/entry/Legume), helps prevent heart disease (Bazzano et al. 2003). Almost 10,000 American adults participated in
this study and were followed for 19 years. People eating the most fiber, 21 grams per day, had 12 percent less
coronary heart disease (CHD) and 11 percent less cardiovascular disease (/entry/Cardiovascular_disease) (CVD)
compared to those eating the least, five grams daily. Those eating the most water-soluble dietary fiber fared even
better with a 15 percent reduction in risk of CHD and a ten percent risk reduction in CVD.

See also
Cellulose (/entry/Cellulose)
Cotton (/entry/Cotton)
Dietary fiber
 Optical fiber (/entry/Optical_fiber)
Plastic (/entry/Plastic)
Textile (/entry/Textile)
Wool (/entry/Wool)

Footnotes
1. The spelling "fibre" is used in Commonwealth countries and sometimes in the United States
(/entry/United_States) as well.

References
Hecht, Jeff. City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-
510818-3 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0195108183?tag=encyclopediap-
20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0195108183&adid=0NQQZXQ96PDAJGB1J8XS)
Hecht, Jeff. Understanding Fiber Optics, 5th Edition. Prentice Hall, 2005. ISBN 0131174290
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/0131174290?tag=encyclopediap-
20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0131174290&adid=0NQQZXQ96PDAJGB1J8XS)
Lorenzani, Shirley S. Dietary Fiber. New Canaan, Connecticut: Keats Publishing, 1998. ISBN 087983479X
(http://www.amazon.com/dp/087983479X?tag=encyclopediap-
20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=087983479X&adid=0NQQZXQ96PDAJGB1J8XS)
Morgan, Peter. Carbon Fibers and Their Composites. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, 2005. ISBN
0824709837 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/0824709837?tag=encyclopediap-
20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=0824709837&adid=0NQQZXQ96PDAJGB1J8XS)
Wallenberger, Frederick T., and Norman E. Weston. 2004. Natural Fibers, Polymers and Composites. Boston:
Kluwer Academic Publishers. ISBN 1402076436 (http://www.amazon.com/dp/1402076436?tag=encyclopediap-
20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1402076436&adid=0NQQZXQ96PDAJGB1J8XS)

External links
All links retrieved April 7, 2017.

How is paper made? (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpapermaking.html)

Paper Online (http://www.paperonline.org/)
International Jute Study Group (http://www.jute.org/plant_1.htm)

Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New
World Encyclopedia standards (/entry/Help:Writers_Manual). This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons
CC-by-sa 3.0 License (/entry/New_World_Encyclopedia:Creative_Commons_CC-by-sa_3.0) (CC-by-sa), which may
be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both
the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite
this article click here (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Special:Cite?page=Fiber) for a list of acceptable
citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

Fiber (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fiber&oldid=87756235) history (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Fiber&action=history)

Dietary_fiber (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dietary_fiber&oldid=89013247) history

(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dietary_fiber&action=history)

history
Wood_fiber (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_fiber&oldid=87575306)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_fiber&action=history)
 history
Optical_fiber (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_fiber&oldid=87761219)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Optical_fiber&action=history)

Natural_fiber (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natural_fiber&oldid=86181472) history

(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Natural_fiber&action=history)

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Retrieved from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Fiber&oldid=1004184

(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Fiber&oldid=1004184)
Categories (/entry/Special:Categories): Physical sciences (/entry/Category:Physical_sciences)
Materials science (/entry/Category:Materials_science) Technology (/entry/Category:Technology)
Credited (/entry/Category:Credited)