Fundamentals of Fiber Science

Xiangwu Zhang

Connects fiber chemistry and structure to properties that can be designed and engineered Micro- and nanoscale, synthetic and natural polymer and non-polymer fibers explained with applications to industrial, electronic, biomedical and energy Information pertinent for fiber, textile, composite, polymer and materials specialists This volume provides the basic chemical and mathematical theory needed to understand and modify the connections among the structure, formation and properties of many different types of manmade and natural fibers. At a fundamental level it explains how polymeric and non-polymeric fibers are organized, how such fibers are formed, both synthetically and biologically, and how primary and secondary properties, from basic flow to thermal and electrical qualities, are derived from molecular and submolecular organization, thus establishing the quantitative and predictive relationships needed for fiber engineering. The book goes on to show how fiber chemistry and modes of processing for dozens of materials such as silks, ceramics, glass and carbon can be used to control functional optical, conductive, thermal and other properties. Its discussion ranges over microscale and nanoscale fibers (nanofibers), covering methods such as spinning and electrospinning, as well as biological fiber generation through self-assembly. Technologies in this text apply to the analysis and design of fibers for industrial, electronic, optical, medical and energy storage applications.