Now, the preparation of the technical innovation and industrial development strategy alliance of kapok is under way. Academician Yao Mu of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Vice President Xu Wenyng of the China National Textile and Apparel Corporation, President Zhu Bunna of the China Cotton Textile Industry Association, Director An Chengxin of the China Desertification Control Foundation, Professor Wang Fumei of Donghua University and other industry leaders and experts are all involved. Companies such as Jin Kola Garments Co., Ltd. and Ji Hua Company also actively support it. The establishment of an industrial development strategy alliance is of great significance for the development of textile products using natural kapok fibers and the rapid development of the kapok industry. After more than 8 years of technological research and exploration, the kapok industry is about to enter a stage of vigorous development.
Kapok fibers have shorter lengths, lower strength, smoother surfaces, greater relative rotational stiffness, and poor cohesion, making spinning difficult and resulting in lower yarn quality. These characteristics make it hard to spin kapok alone using methods for processing cotton or wool. For a long time, due to issues with kapok fiber production and processability, kapok has only been used to make low-grade padding products, affecting its development and utilization in the textile industry.
Shanghai Pandah Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd. is the earliest company in China engaged in kapok textiles and planting. Its founder Yan Guoxin, along with Donghua University and the Shanghai Textile Science Research Institute, collaboratively conducted research and technological development on kapok series materials, filing 7 invention patents. They successfully developed new spinning technology, rewriting the conclusion that kapok was only suitable as filler material and not suitable for spinning. Their developed kapok spinning technology was evaluated by authoritative experts from institutions such as the China Textile Industry Association and Donghua University, who found that some technologies filled international gaps. In October 2008, this technology won the only gold award in the textile category at the International Invention Exhibition in China. The Shanghai Pandah Group successfully spun ring-spun and air-jet spun yarns using kapok fibers and established a kapok tree cultivation base in Gejiu, Yunnan, laying the foundation for the large-scale development and scientific development of the kapok industry.
In addition, the moisture absorption of kapok fibers is better than that of cotton fibers, with a standard regain rate of 10%~10.73%, and an average refractive index of 1.718, slightly higher than the average refractive index of 1.596 for cotton fibers. Kapok fibers have good acid and alkali resistance, being unaffected by dilute acids and weak alkalis at room temperature. Kapok fibers come in white, yellow, and yellow-brown colors and can be dyed with direct dyes.
Unique Performance of "Plant Soft Gold"
Kapok fibers are known as "plant soft gold" and are currently the finest, lightest, highest hollow degree, and most thermal-insulating natural fiber material. After more than 8 years of research and development, the application of kapok fibers in the textile field has become increasingly widespread. As a new type of ecological textile material, the promotion and utilization of kapok fibers have received more attention under the situation of a shortage of fiber material resources.
Technological Breakthroughs Lead to Increased Applications
Professor Wang Fumei of Donghua University has been engaged in kapok fiber technology research for 8 years. According to her introduction, kapok fibers are naturally ultra-fine and highly hollow fibers, with a hollow degree of 86%, far exceeding other fibers. They possess features such as cleanliness, antibacterial properties, mothproofing, mold resistance, softness, difficulty in tangling, water impermeability, and heat insulation, and have extensive applications in aviation, medicine, textiles, papermaking, construction, and other industries.
In recent years, with the development of new spinning technologies, the spinning technology of kapok fibers has continuously broken through thanks to the efforts of scientific researchers.
Kapok fibers are the fruit fibers of the kapok tree, adhering to the inner wall of the kapok capsule shell, developing and growing from the inner wall cells. Since the adhesion force between the fibers and the fruit is small, generally no special primary processing equipment is needed. Just shaking the basket screen will allow the kapok seeds to sink to the bottom, obtaining the kapok fibers. Kapok fibers are natural cellulose fibers, belonging to the same single-cell fibers as cotton fibers. However, kapok fibers have a series of unique characteristics: their fineness is only half of cotton fibers, while the hollowness reaches over 86%, which is 2-3 times that of ordinary cotton fibers. That is to say, kapok underwear is lighter and thinner than underwear made from regular fibers, yet provides better warmth retention. Kapok fibers are relatively short, ranging from 8mm to 34mm in length, with mid-fiber diameters ranging from 20μm to 45μm and linear densities from 0.9 to 1.2dtex. In terms of strength and elongation, kapok fibers have lower strength and less elongation capacity. The average single fiber strength is 1.4~1.7cN, the fiber specific strength is 0.8~1.3cN/dtex, and the breaking elongation rate is 1.5%~3.0%.