A Study of the Distribution of Perimeter, Cell-Wall Area and Thickness, and Shape in Raw and Slack-Mercerized . Single Cotton Fibers

Abstract

A study of the cross-sections of single cotton fibers revealed that perimeter, cell-wall thickness, and cell-wall area are normally distributed, and that the parameters of the normal, or Gaussian, distribution can be used to describe these physical . characteristics of single cotton fibers. Cell-wall thickness, cell-wall area, circularity, and perimeter, to a small extent, are found to increase with growth period. Variation in these parameters with increasing maturity, when fineness remains constant, as well v, as changes with increasing coarseness, when maturity remains constant, have been described. The changes brought about in these parameters as a result of slack-mercerization have also been investigated. An important result of slack-mercerization is that the average perimeter, as well as the variation within a sample, decreases, while in the case of cell-wall thickness and area, the averages and their deviations both increase.