Kapok fibre

Last updated

Kapok, or Kapok fibre, also known as ceiba and Java cotton, is the fine fibres from the fruit of the kapok tree Ceiba pentandra in the bombax family Bombacaceae. [1]

Contents

Description

Kapok is a fibrous material classified along with cotton, as plant hairs or seed fibres, unicellular fibres thet develop on the inside of the fruit bags. The kapok fibres are 10 to 35 mm in length and are brittle due to lignification, and only spinnable when blended other fibres, usually cotton. The fibres are water-repellent (hydrophobic} and have good thermal insulation properties. Colour may be white, pale gray, or yellowish to brown. [1] The fibres are easily biodegradable, [2] but not subject to much insect infestation.

The microscopic structure of kapok is significantly different from cotton. It has a hollow tube structure consisting of about 35% cellulose and nanocellulose, 22% xylan and 21.5% lignin in the dry fibre. Also pectin and wax. The fibre is hydrophobic due to a fairly high fat content and is not wetted by water, but is absorptive of oil at a level of 40 grams per gram of fibre from an oil suspension in water. [3] A kapok fibre is a thin-walled hollow tube with a diameter of about 15 to 35 µm and wall thickness about 1 to 2 µm, filled with up to 80% air by volume, giving it a density of about 1/8 that of cotton fibre. [2]

The fibres are not known to cause allergic reactions and are comfortable to wear. [4]

Production

Kapok is grown and exported from Nigeria, Mozambique, and Tanzania in Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines in Asia, and Ecuador in South America. [1]

The product is transported in bales of about 100kg, but at low compression to prevent excessive compaction. Kapok can spontaneously combust, and is rated as a flammable solid. [1]

Kapok is considered relatively inexpensive.[ by whom? ]

Uses

Kapok fibers can be used as fill for pillows, quilts and other bedding, upholstery, and soft toys. It is also good thermal and acoustic insulation. [3] [1] [5]

Kapok was used as a filling for life jackets due to the low density due to the air-filled lumen and low wetting. After extended immersion in water, the buoyancy is only slightly reduced. [1]

By-products such as shoots, oil, leaves and fruit are used as food, for medicinal preparations, particularly in traditional medicine, and as animal feed. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ceiba pentandra</i> Kapok tree cultivated for seed fibre

Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae, native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and West Africa. A somewhat smaller variety has been introduced to South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated.

<i>Ceiba</i> Genus of plants

Ceiba is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to 70 m (230 ft) tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is Kapok, Ceiba pentandra, one of several trees known as kapok. Ceiba is a word from the Taíno language meaning "boat" because Taínos use the wood to build their dugout canoes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fiber</span> Natural or synthetic substance made of long, thin filaments

Fiber or fibre is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate fibers, for example carbon fiber and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mineral wool</span> Fiber made from spun molten minerals

Mineral wool is any fibrous material formed by spinning or drawing molten mineral or rock materials such as slag and ceramics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jute</span> Bast fiber from the genus Corchorus

Jute is a long, rough, shiny bast fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus Corchorus, which is in the mallow family Tiliaceae. The primary source of the fiber is Corchorus olitorius, but such fiber is considered inferior to that derived from Corchorus capsularis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombacaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Bombacaceae were long recognised as a family of flowering plants or Angiospermae. The family name was based on the type genus Bombax. As is true for many botanical names, circumscription and status of the taxon has varied with taxonomic point of view, and currently the preference is to transfer most of the erstwhile family Bombacaceae to the subfamily Bombacoideae within the family Malvaceae in the order Malvales. The rest of the family were transferred to other taxa, notably the new family Durionaceae. Irrespective of current taxonomic status, many of the species originally included in the Bombacaceae are of considerable ecological, historical, horticultural, and economic importance, such as balsa, kapok, baobab and durian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microfiber</span> Synthetic fiber

Microfiber is synthetic fiber finer than one denier or decitex/thread, having a diameter of less than ten micrometers.

<i>Bombax</i> Genus of flowering plants

Bombax is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished from the genus Ceiba, which has whiter flowers.

SATRA Technology Centre (SATRA) is a research and technology centre, employing over 180 scientific, technical and support staff across two sites in the UK and China. Founded as the British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association in 1919, it has since extended its expertise to cover other consumer product industry sectors including furniture, safety products, clothing, floorcoverings, leathergoods, homeware, and cleaning technology. It is partly funded through membership, which includes 1,600 companies in over 70 countries.

A fabric softener or fabric conditioner is a conditioner that is applied to laundry after it has been washed in a washing machine. A similar, more dilute preparation meant to be applied to dry fabric is known as a wrinkle releaser.

<i>Ceiba speciosa</i> Species of tree

Ceiba speciosa, the floss silk tree, is a species of deciduous tree that is native to the tropical and subtropical forests of South America. It has several local common names, such as palo borracho, or árbol del puente, samu'ũ, or paineira. In Bolivia, it is called toborochi, meaning "tree of refuge" or "sheltering tree". In the USA it often is called the silk floss tree. It belongs to the same family as the baobab; the species Bombax ceiba; and other kapok trees. Another tree of the same genus, Ceiba chodatii, is often referred to by the same common names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural fiber</span> Fibers obtained from natural sources such as plants, animals or minerals without synthesis

Natural fibers or natural fibres are fibers that are produced by geological processes, or from the bodies of plants or animals. They can be used as a component of composite materials, where the orientation of fibers impacts the properties. Natural fibers can also be matted into sheets to make paper or felt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nonwoven fabric</span> Sheet of fibers

Nonwoven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres, bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing industry to denote fabrics, such as felt, which are neither woven nor knitted. Some non-woven materials lack sufficient strength unless densified or reinforced by a backing. In recent years, non-wovens have become an alternative to polyurethane foam.

<i>Bombax ceiba</i> Species of tree

Bombax ceiba, like other trees of the genus Bombax, is commonly known as cotton tree. More specifically, it is sometimes known as Malabar silk-cotton tree; red silk-cotton; red cotton tree; or ambiguously as silk-cotton or kapok, both of which may also refer to Ceiba pentandra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biocomposite</span>

A biocomposite is a composite material formed by a matrix (resin) and a reinforcement of natural fibers. Environmental concern and cost of synthetic fibres have led the foundation of using natural fibre as reinforcement in polymeric composites. The matrix phase is formed by polymers derived from renewable and nonrenewable resources. The matrix is important to protect the fibers from environmental degradation and mechanical damage, to hold the fibers together and to transfer the loads on it. In addition, biofibers are the principal components of biocomposites, which are derived from biological origins, for example fibers from crops, recycled wood, waste paper, crop processing byproducts or regenerated cellulose fiber (viscose/rayon). The interest in biocomposites is rapidly growing in terms of industrial applications and fundamental research, due to its great benefits. Biocomposites can be used alone, or as a complement to standard materials, such as carbon fiber. Advocates of biocomposites state that use of these materials improve health and safety in their production, are lighter in weight, have a visual appeal similar to that of wood, and are environmentally superior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Building insulation material</span>

Building insulation materials are the building materials that form the thermal envelope of a building or otherwise reduce heat transfer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cellulose fiber</span> Fibers made with ethers or esters of cellulose

Cellulose fibers are fibers made with ethers or esters of cellulose, which can be obtained from the bark, wood or leaves of plants, or from other plant-based material. In addition to cellulose, the fibers may also contain hemicellulose and lignin, with different percentages of these components altering the mechanical properties of the fibers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parque de la Ceiba</span> Park in San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Parque de la Ceiba is a passive park in sector Cuatro Calles of barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Its centerpiece is the historic Ceiba pentandra, a tree associated with the founding of the city. Now surrounded by the park with the same name, the emblematic 500-year-old Ceiba tree stands on the edge of the Ponce Historic Zone. The park opened in 1984, under the administration of Mayor Jose Dapena Thompson. A sign on the fence that surrounds the tree identifies its species as Ceiba pentandra.

Kapok fibre is a cotton-like plant fibre obtained from the seed pods of a number of trees in the Malvaceae family, which is used for stuffing mattresses and pillows, for padding and cushioning, and as insulation.

Biofoams are biological or biologically derived foams, making up lightweight and porous cellular solids. A relatively new term, its use in academia began in the 1980s in relation to the scum that formed on activated sludge plants.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kapok". www.tis-gdv.de. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Baraniak, Justyna; Kania-Dobrowolska, Malgorzata (2023). "Multi-Purpose Utilization of Kapok Fiber and Properties of Ceiba Pentandra Tree in Various Branches of Industry". Journal of Natural Fibers. 20 (1). doi: 10.1080/15440478.2023.2192542 .
  3. 1 2 Hori, Keko; Flavier, Maxima E.; Kuga, higenori; Lam, Thi Bach Tuyet; Iiyama, Kenji (2000). "Excellent oil absorbent kapok [Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.] fiber: fiber structure, chemical characteristics, and application" (PDF). J Wood Sci. The Japan Wood Research Society. 46 (5): 01–404. doi:10.1007/BF00776404. S2CID   137476719.
  4. "Kapok fibers now used in biodegradable, all-natural clothing". 27 December 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  5. Liu, Xueting; Tang, Xiaoning; Deng, Zhongmin (2022). "Sound absorption properties for multi-layer of composite materials using nonwoven fabrics with kapok". Journal of Industrial Textiles 2022, Vol. 51(10) 1601 –1615. 51 (10): 1601–1615. doi:10.1177/1528083720904926. S2CID   216386853.