Comparison of Properties: Bamboo Fiber vs Ramie Fiber

Bamboo Pulp Fiber vs Ramie Fiber

Bamboo pulp fiber is a new natural fiber developed in recent years. It is made by removing lignin and other impurities from bamboo with extracts of pure natural plants.

Moreover, the whole production process causes no harm to human bodies and creates no pollution. The finished fiber is white, bright, stiff and smooth. Its hand feel, luster, length and fineness are quite similar to those of ramie fiber.

Therefore, this paper compares the properties of bamboo pulp fiber and ramie fiber. It helps people better understand and make good use of bamboo pulp fiber.

1. Chemical Structure and Composition of Fibers

Bamboo pulp fiber and ramie fiber mainly consist of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.

Besides, these three components account for over 90% of the dry weight of bamboo pulp fiber, while the proportion ranges from 80% to 92% in ramie fiber.

Furthermore, cellulose content of bamboo pulp fiber varies with growing regions.

Among all bamboo species, neosinocalamus affinis has the highest cellulose content.

However, bamboo fiber contains far less cellulose than cotton and ramie.

In addition, bamboo fiber only has primary structure without secondary structure, so its structure is quite simple.

2. Primary Processing of Fibers

Primary processing of bamboo pulp fiber is to extract spinnable fibers from bamboo.

Similarly, ramie fiber processing extracts fibers from ramie plants.

Essentially, both processes aim at degumming, yet their procedures differ greatly.

Ramie has a long application history with various mature degumming methods.

Upgrading these methods improves its spinnability, softness, extensibility and elasticity.

By contrast, degumming techniques for bamboo pulp fiber still need further improvement.

The primary processing flow of bamboo pulp fiber is shown in Figure 1. The combined biochemical degumming process of ramie fiber is presented in Figure 2.

3. Health Benefits and Safety

Neither bamboo pulp fiber nor ramie fiber requires harmful pesticides during growth.

Both fibers deliver excellent antibacterial and bactericidal effects when in contact with human skin.

Tests against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538 were conducted in accordance with AATCC 100-1999.

The results prove their outstanding antibacterial performance, superior to artificial antibacterial finishing.

Besides, both fibers feature natural deodorization and biodegradability.

They maintain sound environmental safety throughout production, application and disposal.

4. Morphology and Dimensions of Fibers

(1) Cross-sectional Morphology

Arrange bamboo pulp fiber and ramie fiber separately on glass slides, then add paraffin oil or distilled water. Observe the samples under a 400× microscope, as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4. Both fibers present a kidney-shaped cross-section with lumens and cracks.

(2) Longitudinal Morphology

Prepare slices of the two fibers with a Y172 microtome. The slice thickness is about 40 μm, close to the fiber diameter. Observe them under a 400× microscope as shown in the figures. Both fibers have transverse nodes and longitudinal striations, while the nodes differ in details. The transverse nodes of bamboo pulp fiber retain the inherent characteristics of bamboo nodes.

(3) Dimensions

Fiber dimensions refer to fiber length and fineness. The length and fineness of ramie fiber vary with growing seasons and varieties. Its length ranges from 20 to 250 mm, and fineness is 0.4 to 0.9 tex (2500–1100 metric count).

Bamboo pulp fiber can be processed into cotton-type, medium-long and wool-type products as required. Its fineness is 5.0 to 8.3 tex (2000–1200 metric count). Compared with ramie fiber, bamboo pulp fiber has better uniformity in length and fineness.

Table 1 lists the measured length and fineness data of the two fibers. For length testing, 500 fibers were selected randomly for measurement. The middle-section weighing method was adopted to test fiber fineness.

Similarly, 500 fibers were randomly sampled for fineness unevenness testing. An ocular micrometer was fitted to the microscope to measure fiber diameter, and the unevenness was calculated accordingly.

5、Physical Properties of Fibers

Besides ramie fiber boasts the highest tenacity among all natural fibers, close to polyester and polyamide. However, it has the lowest elongation, so garments made of ramie feel stiff and lack stretch.

And tests show bamboo pulp fiber has no obvious differences from ramie fiber in breaking tenacity, breaking elongation and their respective unevenness. Meanwhile, bamboo pulp fiber has a much lower fineness unevenness. Logically, it should also have lower tenacity unevenness. Yet the test results reveal the opposite.