Two kinds of green environmental protection fibers-loofah fiber and lotus fiber

In 2009, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization was designated as the "International Year of Natural Fibers", and a series of activities were carried out under the theme of "2009 United Nations International Year of Natural Fibers". The activities of the International Year of Natural Fibers have stimulated further research and development of environmentally friendly fibers that use plant resources as raw materials. The so-called "green fiber" should meet the following three conditions from an ecological point of view: (1) The use of renewable resources for raw materials will not destroy the ecological balance and cause resource depletion; (2) The production process will not cause pollution to the environment, Meet the requirements of energy saving and environmental protection, the product is healthy and comfortable to wear; (3) The finished product can be recycled after being discarded or can be degraded under natural conditions. This article briefly describes the properties, applications and development prospects of loofah fibers and lotus fibers.

1 loofah fiber

1.1 Background of loofah fiber

With the height of the “Luffa gourd” in many vegetable exhibitions in recent years, a few meters of large luffa has been seen everywhere, but it is still mainly for viewing. However, if such a long loofah waits until it is dried on the vine, it will do a lot. Of course, no matter whether it is short loofah or long loofah, it can't be just a dish on the table. With the wide range of cultivation and promotion in recent years, the loofah fiber products have shown a variety of, after processing, can be made into loofah Insoles, pillows, mattresses, baths and more than one hundred different kinds of daily life and daily necessities.

1.2 Performance of loofah fiber

Loofah fiber is the net fiber that appears inside after the loofah matures and dries. It is also known as loofah and loofah cloth. The people of our country have a long history of using loofah fiber. Ancient Chinese medical works such as "Chinese Materia Medica", "Compendium of Medical Forest", "Materia Medica Renewal" during the Ming Dynasty were all recorded. Chinese medicine generally believes that it has the functions of cooling blood and detoxifying. Modern scientific research has also found that loofah contains xylan, mannan, galactosan, etc., which have sedative, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effects.

The loofah fibers are grid-shaped, flexible and elastic, and have strong water absorption. The moisture regain rate is higher than that of cotton fibers and similar to hemp. It has good moisture absorption, sweat absorption, and good air permeability.

1.3 Application of loofah fiber

1.3.1 Loofah insole

As the saying goes, “Humans have feet, just like trees have roots; tree withered roots are exhausted first, and people ’s old feet decline first.” Pure natural loofah health insoles can overcome the stiffness, deformation, and smell of cowhide insoles, and the plastic insoles slip and smell Other shortcomings will not be as slippery and sticky as cotton insoles, not dry and easy to mold, even if the feet sweat more, the surface is dry, a bit like "not wet". In addition, the loofah can improve the warm and humid environment in the shoe and inhibit the growth of bacteria; it can effectively absorb shock and reduce the damage to various parts of the body during exercise; due to the special structure of the natural plant fiber itself, the loofah insole breathable Sex is second to none in all insole materials, long-term use can achieve the purpose of preventing foot odor, foot sweat and beriberi. The long-used loofah insole can also be transformed into an environmentally-friendly tool for washing soles.

1.3.2 Natural loofah bath products

Natural loofah bath products have become one of the consumers' first choice products for beauty and health care products during bathing, and have become an indispensable item in many hotels, bath centers and family bath rooms. Loofah is relatively tough. Bath products made of natural loofah can be used to wipe the body, massage, and massage. It can effectively remove the dust on the surface of the skin and wipe off the excess fat oil in the pores. It is good for skin diseases such as powder and acne. The curative effect and preventive health care function, at the same time promote blood circulation, accelerate metabolism and enhance self-immunity. After use, it feels comfortable all over the body, refreshes the mind and keeps the brain healthy. Long-term use can make the skin rosy and healthy, rejuvenate the youthful charm, and delay the skin's natural aging phenomenon caused by age factors.

1.3.3 Loofah fiber bedding

Mattresses and bed pillows made of loofah fibers are generally wrapped in pure cotton. They are not in direct contact. They can absorb and eliminate human sweat, moisture, and odor, keep the air fresh, and dry the bed, creating a comfortable and perfect Sleeping environment. The effects of loofah, removing wind and collaterals, cooling blood and detoxifying, can also promote blood circulation and metabolism during sleep, relieve fatigue and improve sleep quality. It has obvious auxiliary effects on the symptoms of shoulder pain, low back pain, arthralgia, insomnia and asthma. The antibacterial, deodorant, and moisture-proof effects of loofah make the bedding products dry, green, environmentally friendly, and healthy.

Pillows, neck pillows, cushions, etc. made of loofah can be used to purify the air, remove odors, absorb moisture and prevent mildew, and keep the air fresh. Suitable for placement on beds, car seats, sofas, chairs. The cushion is one of the best health products for the treatment of bone spurs.

1.3.4 Loofah toys and accessories

Pure natural plant fiber Pet Toys can be digested even if they are eaten in the stomach, and can also remove animal tartar. The fiber material is not easy to get dust on the ground. Loofah made into rural decorations, and gradually came into people's attention, as small as mobile phone pendants, apparel pendants and decorative ornaments.

1.4 Insufficient

While there are no corresponding industry regulations to regulate and regulate the products of loofah, consumers need to pay more attention to the purchase and use of:

(1) When buying, firstly need to combine "sniff, touch, look" to visually identify, to prevent moldy loofah products from being inferior. At present, the loofah fiber is still in a post-processing state. Due to the limitations of its processing conditions, the shelf life of the loofah fiber products is limited to a certain extent, mainly affected by the storage environment. save.

(2) If mildew is found during use, discard as much as possible. However, it is normal for the color to darken after washing.

(3) Use a mild detergent when washing to increase its service life. For mattresses, bed pillows, etc., only the outer cover needs to be washed, and the loofah fiber products inside can be dried regularly.

2 charged fiber

2.1 Background of loaded fibers

The planting area of ​​lotus roots in China is nearly ten million mu, mainly harvesting lotus roots and lotus seeds. A large number of lotus stems are either withered and rotted, or thrown away at random. If the weight of the lotus stems per acre is calculated by 2.5 tons, there are tens of millions every year. The ton-loaded rod was abandoned [4]. If this natural agricultural waste can be processed into a new fiber after scientific and reasonable processing, it will bring huge economic and social benefits.

2.2 The performance of loaded fiber

The lotus fiber is made from the agricultural waste after lotus root harvest-lotus leaf stem, also known as "lotus fiber" [5]. The lotus fiber is a plant fiber formed by the strip-shaped spiral duct and the secondary wall of the tracheid in the lotus leaf stem. The lotus fibers extracted by physical methods are slender and soft, with a longitudinal spiral twist with bands and a creamy appearance. The charge fiber is a flat ribbon-shaped multifilament fiber that is composed of multiple monofilament fibers (or fine fibers), and generally consists of 4 to 10 monofilaments. The diameter of the monofilament fiber is about 4µm, and the lateral association distance of the monofilament fiber is 3 ～ 5µm. The cross-sectional shape of the lotus fiber is similar to a circle or oval, and the cross-section has a cavity and a hole.

The artificially extracted fiber of the fresh lotus rod has the characteristics of silk, long length, fineness, white color, soft and elegant; and the fiber produced by dry mechanical processing is more like hemp fiber, the fiber is thicker, brown and white . The density of the charged fiber is lower than that of cotton and ramie, and it is close to that of silk and acrylic. The fiber density is small, the weight is light, and the fiber is soft and elegant. The linear density of the charged fiber is lower than that of ramie and silk, and is closer to that of cotton fiber and cotton chemical fiber. It can be seen that the finer load fiber is conducive to the strength of the yarn and the evenness of the sliver, and can be used to spin high count and high density yarn. The moisture regain rate of the loaded fiber is close to that of ramie, larger than cotton and silk, smaller than wool and viscose, and has good hygroscopicity.

2.3 Application of loaded fiber

The preparation methods of the charged fiber mainly include: the direct extraction method of the fresh fiber and the mechanical processing method of the dry load rod. In addition, after immersion treatment, the microorganisms in water are used to decompose part of the load bar, and then after drying, dry mechanical processing is performed to make it easier to make fibers. The processing methods of loaded fibers are all naturally processed by physical methods, at most using microbes for pre-treatment. The natural environment will hardly have any adverse effects, and the prepared fibers can be used for any processing of textiles, and are excellent textile fibers . The charge fiber is a kind of better textile processing fiber, and the fiber belongs to the filament type fiber, with long length, which can be cut for short fiber spinning.

The use of chargeable fibers for pure or blended textiles has the characteristics of rugged fabric, hard feel, antistatic, natural comfort and no damage to the skin. It is ideal for summer clothing such as jackets, shirts, T-shirts, etc. Fabric, especially suitable for wearing in hot and humid environment. Loaded fibers are used in medical surgical sutures, gauze, blood strips, and tourniquets. It is a new type of medical material and dressing in the medical field today. It solves the problems of adhesion, disassembly, degradation, allergies, inflammation, hemostasis and so on. It is characterized by that it does not cause tissue inflammation and hypoallergenic reactions at the implantation site. It can gradually penetrate and diffuse with muscle and blood molecules in the body, automatically digest and absorb biodegradation, without stitch removal, without scars, or fear. Adhesion, hemostasis is fast, is an essential article for internal surgery, facial features cosmetic surgery, burn patients and general emergency trauma treatment.

At Milan Fashion Week in 2010, the Italian brand showed the successful use of lotus fiber in textile production. It is believed that as people get closer to nature, lotus fibers will appear in front of everyone in a variety of ways.

3 Prospect

The Textile Industry Association has formulated the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and the development outline for the next ten years. The important area of ​​this outline is the development strategy of fiber materials. The first to bear the brunt is that natural fibers continue to be used well and expand [10].

The significance of loofah fiber products not only adds a new natural textile material, improves the diversity and added value of textile products, but also improves the comprehensive utilization rate of resources. The commercial cultivation and development of loofah has been in China for more than ten years. Since most of the products are exported to European and American markets, they are not widely known in China. As the most high-end shoe gasket material recognized internationally, Loofah has been selling well in developed countries such as Europe and America. With the continuous development of the domestic economy and the advancement of people's consumption concepts, it will also be gradually recognized by the majority of domestic consumers.

Lotus fiber is rich in a variety of trace elements that are beneficial to human health. Its fabric has good antibacterial health care and moisture absorption and perspiration. In particular, the development of this fiber can use agricultural waste as a resource to develop circular agriculture, which is not only beneficial to Ecological and environmental protection, and its products also meet the needs of people who advocate nature, pursuit of comfort and health care, and can create good social and economic benefits for textile and apparel companies.

Natural loofah fiber is a short fiber, and the charge fiber is a long filament-like fiber. How to truly extract the loofah fiber for textile from loofah, and then combine the two green environmental protection fibers and play a leading role in the field of clothing, this is a subject worthy of further investigation. Of course, with the further research and discussion of loofah fibers and lotus fibers, we must make greater achievements in its standardization, production and commercialization.