By Zhao Xinhua

Did you know some plants contribute to the fashionable clothes you wear? Your favorite cotton shirt could have been once a thriving young plant.

Some plants indeed produce fibers that can be spun into a yarn.A yarn is a continuous length of interlocked fibers that can be sewed,knitted,or weaved.Plant fiber is closely related to human life,in addition to the daily necessities of textile articles,ropes,packaging,paper,plastic and explosives,also need plant fiber as raw materials.In addition to the common plant fiber in life,such as cotton,soybean,jute,flax,etc.,from banana,pineapple,coconut,lotus,apple residue and other raw materials extracted plant fiber,all into the fashion sector.

The yarn derived from the bark of the banana tree is strong,glossy,and resembles silk.It has a textured feel and absorbs dye colors pretty well.The luster,softness,elasticity and spinnability of fiber are slightly inferior to flax and jute.Banana fiber fabric by hand is popular in India,Japan,Philippines and other countries.At ASEAN Summit in the Philippines,world leaders wore hand—wo—ven garments made from banana and pineapple fibers.

Coconut fiber,also known as coir,is the plant fiber extracted from the coconut shell.It can be used in floor mats,brushes and mattresses.The brown coir is com—monly used in decorative mats,sacks and gardening,while the immature coconut harvests the white fiber for making better brushes,ropes,ropes and fishing nets.

With the increasing awareness of environmental pro—tection,plant fiber is not only used in the textile and cloth—ing industry.The recyclable and degradable characteristics of plant fiber composites are attracting attention in the development of biological materials,which can be used to replace construction materials,packaging materials and automotive interior materials.Plant fiber composite mate—rials are also regarded as the future development direction of the automotive interior industry.Plant fiber composites are used for the door panels of Ford's Mondeo and Mer—cedes A—Class E—Class sedans.

Plant fibers have good mechanical properties.While they may not replace high strength fibers such as Kevlar®,graphite or glass,they can be used as low—cost alternative reinforcements for composites requir—ing moderate strength.One of the major advantages of these fibers,derived from plant stems or leaves,is that they are renewable annually as compared to wood,which takes 20-25 years to grow to full maturity.

The hollow structure of some plant fibers also pro—vides better insulation against noise and heat which can be used in sound absorption and insulators.Because of their noise—absorbing characteristics,these compositesshould also work well for walls of cubicles commonly seen in offices and call centers.

In recent years,scientists recognize that often the most robust materials are those that mimic nature.New plant fiber materials can be obtained by chang—ing the structure of plant fiber and adding nano fiber.Although many of the new technologies are still being explored,it is clear that plant fiber composites have great potential.