Fiber

Fiber (also spelled fibre in British English; from Latin: fibra)[1] is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide.

Semi-synthetic fibers are made from raw materials with naturally long-chain polymer structure and are only modified and partially degraded by chemical processes, in contrast to completely synthetic fibers such as nylon (polyamide) or dacron (polyester), which the chemist synthesizes from low-molecular weight compounds by polymerization (chain-building) reactions.

Therefore, the manufacturing process leaves few characteristics distinctive of the natural source material in the finished products.

Some examples of this fiber type are: Historically, cellulose diacetate and -triacetate were classified under the term rayon, but are now considered distinct materials.

The pyrolysis yields an amorphous silicon carbide, including mostly other elements like oxygen, titanium, or aluminium, but with mechanical properties very similar to those of carbon fibers.

Mineral fibers can be particularly strong because they are formed with a low number of surface defects; asbestos is a common one.

Most synthetic fibers are round in cross-section, but special designs can be hollow, oval, star-shaped or trilobal.

Natural cellulose, such as cotton or bleached kraft, show smaller fibrils jutting out and away from the main fiber structure.

[10] Fibers can be divided into natural and artificial (synthetic) substance, their properties can affect their performance in many applications.