004944   Geeta M;Iramma G;Rajashri K (All India-Co-ordinated Research Project on Clothing and Textiles, College of Rural Home Science, University of Agricultural Science, Dharwad-5) : Arecanut extract: a natural colourant for wool. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(9), 331-6.

Natural colourants are present in a large variety of plant sources - root, leaf, bark, flower berry, shoot, nut, seed, and fruit. The tannins in Arecanut were being made use of, for dyeing rope and tanning leather. Tannins are obtained as a by-product from the processes preparing immature betel nuts for masticatory purpose. This study is carried out with an objective to dye woollen skeins with Arecanut and assess the colourfastness to washing, sunlight, rubbing and perspiration. Known quantity of natural dyestuff i.e. Arecanut was soaked in water with MLR 1:40 overnight and the same was boiled for 30 min., 45 min. and 60 min. The pH was recorded after dye extraction (aqueous media) and the pH was changed to acidic (pH-4) by adding acetic acid for baths. Finally the optical density was measured using ELICO-SL 171 mini spectro - photometer. The wool skein was dyed in respective medias and their optical density was recorded. Percent dye absorption was calculated for all medias. Mordanted samples showed better fastness than control, since the mordant plays a vital role in breaking the surface tension of the fibre, there by assign the dye molecule to penetrate into the fibre core. The colourfastness to dry crocking was excellent compared to wet. This may be because of the breakage of dye metal complexes into simple particles during wet rubbing or the physical adherence of excess dye particles on the substrate after saturation was released from the fabric in wet conditions, thus staining material. Alkaline perspiration showed superior colourfastness than acidic, which may be due to the stable electronic configuration of wool sample in alkaline condition. Wool sample post mordanted with 10 per cent potash alum attained maximum dye absorption and better colourfastness properties.

3 illus, 4 tables, 3 ref

004943   Gautam S;Goel A;Mishra A (Textiles and Apparel Designing Dep, College of Home Science, CSKHPKV, Palampur-176 062) : Role of ecofriendly geotextiles in controlling soil erosion. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(11), 399-402.

Soil erosion is a serious natural problem that leades to mass destruction of people in erosion prone areas. The vulnerable locations are river banks, hill terrains, coastal region etc. Application of geotextile material is a solution and adopted by many developed countries. Describes various materials and structures used as erosion control geotextiles in Indian context.

2 illus, 9 ref

004942   Fatima N;Grover E;Paul S (Clothing & Textile Dep, College of Home Science & Women's Development Allahabad Agricultural I, Allahabad) : Use of natural dyes for value added products. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(2), 55-7.

Natural dyes are ecofriendly. Products developed by using natural dyes give value addition exports. Paper explores various natural dyes used cost analysis of each product is also mentioned.

1 illus, 2 tables

004941   El-Molla M M;Moussa S Z A;Sayed Z A (Textile Research Division, National Research Centre, , Dokki, Cairo, Egypt) : Preparation and characterisation of Carbamoyl ethylation cassia saligna gum and their utilization as thickener in textile printing. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(12), 428-35.

Cassia saligna gum (galactomannan) was isolated from cassia saligna seeds and subjected to chemical modification via carbamoyl ethylation. The latter involved reaction of the gum with acrylamide in the presence of sodium hydroxide as a catalyst, under a variety of conditions. Variables studied included concentration of the etherifying agents, the preparation medium and the reaction temperature. The reaction expressed as a percent of nitrogen increases by increasing the acrylamide concentration. Higher percent of nitrogen values were obtained in non-aqueous medium. The temperature plays a dominant role in the extent of the reaction. Carbamoyethylation of cassia saligna gum converts it to water soluble product which resist fermentation by storing. The rheological properties and apparent viscosity at varios rates of shear was invstigated. Results indicate that carbamoylethylated cassia saligna gum could be used safely as thickeners in printing of cotton and polyester fabrics using silk screen printing instead of sodium alginate.

3 illus, 8 tables, 18 ref

004940   El-Molla M M;Moussa S Z A;Ramadan G H S (Textile Research Division, National Research Centre, , Dokki, Cairo, Egypt) : Fenugreek gum in fabric printing. J Text Ass 2007, 68(4), 169-81.

Results of experiments conducted on use of Galactomannan, extracted from fenugreek seeds, as a thickener for textile printing pastes are reported in this interesting article. Authors report results under different conditions, such as with and without oxidation, and under different concentrations and liquor ratios. The products were analyzed for acidic and reducing properties expressed as carboxyl and carbonyl contents, respectively. The rheological properties of the oxidized samples are also reported. Suitability of fenugreek gum as a thickener in printing pastes is studied in detail. The results indicate that oxidized fenugreek gum could be used safely as a thickener in printing of cotton, linen, and viscose fabric, using silk screen printing, instead of sodium alginate.

4 illus, 11 tables, 21 ref

004939   Edwin Sunder A;Chandramohan P;Arun Karthik J (Textiles Processing Dep, S.S.M. Institute of Textile Technology, Komarapalayam-638 183) : Dyeing of acrylic fibers with reactive dyes - a practical approch. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(4), 150-4.

Acrylic fibers are dyed with cationic dyes and disperse dyes. Disperse dyes; dye the fibers in a similar manner to that of dyeing polyester fibers with disperse dyes. Cationic dyes fix on the anionic sites in the fiber, by the formation of "ionic bonds". Out of the two dyes cationic dyes give brilliant shades on acrylic material. Reactive dyes rule the dyeing of cotton for the last four decades. Research work led to the invention of different classes of reactive dyestuff. The possibility of dyeing of acrylic material with reactive dyes has been explored in this work. Since there are no reactive groups in the acrylic fiber, we have tried to fix it mechanically by applying "dye fixing agents ". Cationic dye fixing agents are initially fixed on the acrylic fiber by the ionic bonds with anionic sites and then the reactive dyes which are anionic in nature when applied in this bath combine with the cationic dye fixing agent, thus giving a firm linkage. The dyed fibers are tested for fastness, colour strength (K/S) value and reflectance values. For making comparative study reactive dyes are applied on cotton also. When both acrylic and cotton dyed with reactive dyes are compared, encouraging results are obtained with acrylic material.

12 illus, 2 tables

004938   Deshmukh G (Synthetic and Art Silk Mills' Research Association, , Sasmira Marg, Worli, Mumbai-400 030) : Basalt - the technical fibre. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(7), 258-61.

Basalt is an igneous, hard, dense volcanic rock that can be found in most countries across the globe. For many years basalt stones were mainly used for construction, industrial and highway engineering and most particularly for the casting processes to make tiles and slabs for architectural applications. More recently, continuous fibers extruded from naturally fire-resistant basalt have been investigated as a replacement for asbestos fibers, in almost all of its applications. Reviews the development of basalt fibre during last decade. Basalt has emerged as a contender in the fibre reinforcement of composites. The performance is similar to S-2 glass fibers and E-glass fibres, and may offer manufacturers a less-expensive alternative to carbon fibre.

1 illus, 7 tables, 10 ref

004937   Debnath S;Nag D;De S S;Ganguly P K;Ghosh S K (NO, National Institute of Research on Jute & Allied Fibre Technology (NIRA, 12, Regent Park, Kokata-700 040) : Tensile creep behaviour of light weight jute non-woven. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(4), 133-6.

Lightweight jute non-woven of 150 to 250 g/m² are used in different applications ranging from mulching to soil conservation in which its tensile creep property plays an important role. Hence with a view to assess its importance, a simple method has been developed to study the creep behaviour of light weight jute non-woven fabric. 10, 20, 30 and 40% of breaking load have been considered to measure the creep behaviour of these jute non-wovens. In the study, efforts have been made to determine the effect of creep load, duration of test, and fabric weight on tensile creep of jute non-woven. Results reveal that, the tensile creep increases with time both in machine and cross directions of the samples for all levels of creep load, but 250 g/m² fabric could not sustain the creep load in machine direction beyond 30 % of the breaking load.

5 illus, 1 table, 8 ref

004936   Chauhan P;Rekha R (Synthetic & Art Silk Mill's Research Associations, , Sasmira marg, Worli, Mumbai-400 030) : Membrane fltration techniques - Part II scope for minimising effluent load. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(6), 204-8.

Membrane filtration technique is a practical and cost effective solution to the problems for handling textile wastewater pollution. Exhaust dye liquor of reactive dyes could be separated from unfixed dyes by membrane filtration technique at affordable cost. This would enable small process houses to survive and remain competitive. The main thrust area is the use of membrane filtration technology not only to purify incoming water, but also to recycle used water as many times as is practically feasible so that generation of effluent and treatment costs are reduced.

21 tables, 8 ref

004935   Charankar S P;Verma V;Gupta M (Textiles and Clothing Dep, Dr. Bhanuben Mahendra Nanavati College of Home Science, Matunga, Mumbai-400 019) : Growing importance of cotton blends in apparel market. J Text Ass 2007, 67(5), 201-10.

8 tables, 19 ref

004934   Bhatt R K (NO, , 4, Mohini Apartment, 61, Mayur Colony, Kothrud, Pune-411 038) : Improvements in the production of viscose filament yarn. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(6), 209-10.

Discribes in brief the viscose manufacturing process along with after treatment methods which can prevent the checking and damage of spinnerets, few suggestions and techniques have been described to improve process conditions.

004933   Babel S;Sodha N (Textiles & Apparel Designing Dep, College of Home Science, Udaipur) : Market potentials of value added articles made by jute fabric and phulkari embroideries. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(6), 223-4.

The Indian folk arts and embroidery play important role in creating much new design. To keep pace with changing demand of the consumers taste and fashion the traditional embroidery motif is changed into contemporary end use Study explores the market potentials of value added articles made by jute fabric and Phulkari embroidery.

1 illus, 2 tables, 3 ref

004932   Babel S;Renu Bala (Textiles and Apparel Designing Dep, College of Home Science, Udaipur) : Health status of textile mill workers. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(2), 61-2.

A healthy and productive workers is basis for sustainable social and economic development with industrial development. Health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and wellbeing depends. Health is not only the starting point of all the welfare but also a significant yardstick to measure the progress of the country. In the study health of the textiles mill workers was assessed through body mass Index. Results reveals that majority of the respondents lie in the range of low weight normal to chronic energy deficiency grade II. Hence the need arises to orient the workers towards health hazards due to poor nutritional status.

1 table, 3 ref

004931   Babel S (Textiles & Apparel Designing, College of Home Science, M.P.U.A.T., Udaipur) : Woollen handloom weaving units of Rajasthan. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(12), 436-9.

Woollen handloom weaving provides gainful employment to the vast majority of the population in Rajasthan. It is second largest decentralized sector scattered in the all the nooks and corners of the state. Wool spinning and weaving form the backbone to the woollen handloom industry in Rajasthan. Unveils the structure of the woollen hand loom weaving units and problems faced by them.

5 illus, 5 tables, 4 ref

004930   Babel S (Textiles & Apparel Designing Dep, College of Home Science, M.P.U.A.T., Udaipur) : Durrie weaving industry of Rajasthan. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(8), 308-10.

The main aim is to study socio - personal profile of the weavers, techniques of durrie weaving along with motifs and design used, sources of design, marketing pattern and problem faced by the house hold durrie weaving industry. Results reveal that the condition of the weaver was pathetic, they were handicapped due to illiteracy, inadequate finance and marketing bottleneck.

4 tables, 4 ref

004929   Anita Rani;Gahlot M;Mittal I (Clothing & Textiles Dep, GBPUAT, Pantnagar) : New generation protein fibres: soy protein fibre ad spider silk. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(3), 98-105.

The 21" century has become more environmentally focused. Despite the introduction of specific properties into fibre, which make them to resemble natural fibres, attention is now focused on producing new fibres based on natural resources themselves. Soybean protein fibre is referred as the health, comfortable and green fibre of the new century. Its major component is soybean protein. Soybean protein fibre is being touted as vegetable cashmere - a new eco-friendly luxury textile offering many of the properties today's of consumers demand. Soy is incredibly soft-to-the-hand feel, second-skin comfort, luster, loft and drape, combined with wash ability, durability, and good wear. Soybean protein fibre also has the advantage of being a product of renewable natural resource and a by-product of food manufacturing industry. Natural spider silk is one of the seven great wonders of the animal kingdom. It is one of the nature's gifts which a small animal can make a substance that is tough, stronger than steel, and more flexible. Spider silk and silkworm silk are not closely related but their silk proteins are similar.

7 illus, 4 tables, 26 ref

004928   Amsamani S;Krishnaveni V;Rajkumar G (Fashion Technology Dep, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore-6) : Development of eco friendly herbal antimicrobial finish on cotton fabric using Aloe barbadensis miller (Aloe vera). Man Made Text India 2007, 50(4), 145-9.

Antimicrobial finish for cotton material has great potential in many applications. Out of various reagents, current trend is to concentrate onecofriendly herbal finishes. Deals with one such material called `Aloe Vera'.

11 illus, 2 tables, 9 ref

004927   Ammayappan L;Jeyakodi moses J (Chemistry Dep, P.S.. College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 004) : Application of tanning in textile processing. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(8), 293-7.

Generally tanning was considered as a process, able-to convert hide to leather. The application of tannic acid/tannin to textile material is also called as tanning. Tanning is used in dyeing of basic dyes with cellulosic fibers as a mordanting process, and also in simultaneous weighting and mordanting of silk fibers. Reviews the role of tanning in the textile industry processing.

2 tables, 36 ref

004926   Ammayappan L;Jeyakodi Moses J (Chemistry Dep, Faculty of Engineering, P.S.G. College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 004) : Comparative study between angora rabbit hair and bhart merino wool. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(6), 220-2.

Angora rabbit hair, a specility hair is compared with Bharat merino wool, a Indian crossbred fine wool in terms of scouring loss (%), enzyme pretreatment weight loss (%), whiteness index, dye uptake (K/S), and bundle strength (g/tex) & elongation at break (%) in order to study the compatibility of rabbit hair and wool blend in the manufacturing of knitwear and shawl in solid shade. Weight loss in scouring and enzyme pretreatment in wool fiber is higher than rabbit hair; both fibers have shown improvement in dye uptake after enzyme pretreatment, while rabbit hair has lesser K/S value than wool fiber; bundle strength is decreased in subsequent chemical processing of both fibers.

5 tables, 9 ref

004925   Agarwal R;Pruthi N;Jeet Singh S S (Clothing and Textiles Dep, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125 004) : Print cotton fabric with peepal Bark dye. Man Made Text India 2007, 50(10), 367-9.

Study was conducted on application of peepal bark dye for cotton printing. The dye powder concentration was kept 10 gm and dye extraction time was kept as 30 minutes and the dye was extracted as per available procedure. 0 standardize the printing paste recipe for screen printing, pH of dye extraction, dye paste concentration, pH of thickener i.e. guar paste, dye paste & guar paste ratio, fixer concentration were optimized. The printed samples were subjected to visual assessment and washing fastness for evaluation. The colour of printed sample was assessed best when dye was extracted at pH -8, 100 gm dye solution was concentrated to 5 ml, guar gum paste was prepared at 6 pH, sharp lines of printed design were obtained when dye paste and guar gum paste were mixed in the ratio of 1:5 and washing fastness was best when 1.5 per cent fixer was used. The two mordants identified were zinc chloride and copper sulphate. Simultaneous mordanting technique was used. Good and fast colours were obtained when 3 percent zinc chloride or 7 percent copper sulphate were used as mordants. The colours obtained with peepal bark dye was tea rose however with zinc chloride, it was golden brown and with copper sulphate it was deep rose.

6 tables, 4 ref

004009   Goswami D N;Ansari M F;Day A;Prasad N;Baboo B (Lac Processing and Product Development Div, Indian Lac Research Institute, Namkum, Ranchi-834 010, Email: mfansari@rediffmail.com) : Jute-fibre glass-plywood/particle board composite. Indian J chem Technol 2008, 15(4), 325-31.

Jute-fibre glass reinforced sheets were prepared with shellac-containing sheet moulding compound. Highest tensile strength and tensile modulus values of jute-fibre glass composites were obtained in the range of 49.76-51.71 MPa and 1.84-1.85 Gpa repectively. Flexural strength and flexural modulus were found to be 72.97-95.98 Mpa and 2.7-4.2 GPa respectively. Flexural strength values were found to be in the range of those of the reinforced sheets prepared using fiberglass alone, when the thickness of the sheets was increased up to 7-7.5 mm. Flame retardance of the sheets could be improved with the use of flame retardant. Thermal resistance of the sheets was found to be upto 220°C. Lamination of plywood and particleboard was also tried with jute-fibre glass, which yielded improved mechanical properties.

3 illus, 6 tables, 12 ref

002953   Vishnoi S R;Srivastava P N;Shekhawat N S (Botany Dep, J.N. Vyas Univ, Jodhpur-342 001, Email: srvishnoi@gmail.com) : Removal of colour from textile effluent using cyanobacterial biomass. J envir Sci Engng 2008, 50(2), 93-6.

The cyanobacterial species were isolated from fresh water pond of Gura-vishnoiyan and were tested for their ability to decolourise the textile effluent. The reduction in colour of textile effluent with the use of dry biomass of Cylindrospermum indicum, Nostoc calcicola, Calothrix weberi was comparatively observed after 2, 4 and 6 days, but maximum colour absorption was observed after 6 days. Calothrix weberi was found the most effective species of cyanobacteria, which can remove the colour intensity upto 85 percent after 6 days of incubation. However, Nostoc calcicola and Cylindrospermum indicum showed 45 percent and 23 percent of colour reduction respectively.

2 tables, 15 ref

002952   Sushant Kumar (Fibres & Textile Processing Technology Dep, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga, Mumbai-19) : Electrospinning of nanocomposites - A review. J Text Ass 2008, 69(2), 56-64.

Electrospinning plays a vital role in nanotechnology. It is proved to be a more simple and versatile method than other conventional technique known to fabricate nanofibres. In recent times, the inclusion of metal nanoparticles into the polymer nanofibres has drawn a lot of attention due to its huge prospective applications as sensors, light devices, bone and tissue engineering etc. A information review is presented on the researches and developments related to the electrospinning of these nanocomposites and the information regarding their processing conditions. Future trends as well as the technological limitations are also mentioned.

2 illus, 56 ref

002951   Ramachandran T;Saravanan D;Govindaraj N; Harish P (Textile Technology Dep, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore) : Influence of scouring on physical properties of special cotton fibres. J Text Ass 2008, 69(2), 82-5.

Preparation of textile material plays an important role in further dyeing and finishing, which is a widely accepted fact. Assessment of the efficiency of conventional alkali scouring process is well established in terms of both qualitative and quantitative methods. However, very limited work have been carried out in analysis of scoured samples of organic cotton, coloured and Bt cotton fibres in terms of physical properties. An attempt has been made, to analyze these cotton samples using alkali and enzyme scouring methods.

3 illus, 2 tables, 8 ref

002950   Patel B;Sharan M (NO, S.M. Patel College of Home Science, V.V. Nagar) : Printing of textiles with natural pigments using acrylic emulsion as binder. J Text Ass 2008, 69(2), 65-7.

Deals with the printing of cotton fabric with natural pigments (mehndi, katha, haldi, geru, amla) using acrylic emulsion as thickening and binding agent. Acrylic emulsions have been widely accepted for paints and paintings and are easily available. The less complicated receipe will be easily accepted and thus it is a step towards introducing more natural pigments in printing of textiles. The results showed that acrylic emulsion can be used as binder and thickener for natural pigments to get better results with penetration. Colour fastness increased with curing.

6 ref

002949   Moses J J;Ammayappan L (Chemistry Dep, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 004) : Effect of silicone and urethane finishing treatment on performance properties of enzyme treated wool/cotton union fabric. J Text Ass 2008, 69(2), 65-74.

A wool/cotton union Fabric was treated with cellulase enzyme as well as with protease Fabrics were then finished with nano, micro and macro sized silicone-emulsion finishing and a polyurethane finishing chemical. The finished and unfinished fabrics with and without prior enzyme treatments had been evaluated for their performance properties. Enzyme treatments improve the finish add-on, moisture regain, wickability, drapeability, dry crease recovery angle, shrink resistance and softness with reduction in tearing strength while the subsequent finishing treatments significantly improve the performance properties especially with retention of tearing strength. The performance properties of enzyme treated and finished fabrics were better than finished-only fabrics and enzyme treated fabrics.

5 illus, 5 tables, 33 ref

002948   Manjunath A;Somashekarappa H (Physics Dep, Yuvaraja's College, Mysore Univ, Mysore-570 005, Email: hssappa@yahoo.com ) : Changes in the crystallite shape of dry and wet cellulose fibre. J Polym Mater 2007, 24(1), 1-6.

X-ray profile analysis of ramie native cellulose (called 'dry') and 5M NaOH added to these cellulose fibers (called 'wet') was carried out using X-ray data of these materials reported by Crawshaw et al. The microcrystalline parameters using single order Fourier method developed by us were computed and hence the crystallite shape ellipsoid in these fibers. These computations show that shape of the crystallites changes with addition of sodium hydroxide. For profile analysis an analytical function, which describes the crystal size distributions was used. It is observed from these computations that it is more appropriate to compare the shape ellipsoid rather than the voids since voids do not contribute for the wide-angle X-ray patterns except for the background.

3 illus, 1 table, 14 ref

002947   Jayakumar K K;Reddy T S;Nair J K;Satpute R S; Mukundan T (High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, , Pashan, Pune-411 021) : Development of a green thermoplastic binder: chain extended poly bis (azido methyl) oxetane. J Polym Mater 2007, 24(1), 7-12.

A new green thermoplastic elastomer namely chain extended Poly Bis (azido methyl) oxetane has been synthesized and characterized. The polymer showed a number average molecular weight of ~10,000 and exhibited a sharp melting above 85 °C in DSC. The glass transition temperature was about - 26°C, further lowering of which as per ammunition system requirements may be effected by the use of a suitable plasticiser. Chain extension of Poly Bis (azido methyl) Oxetane has been supported by comparison of rehological properties of this polymer with homo polymer. Extended Poly Bis (azido methyl) Oxetane shows G "> G' (storages modulus) as well as more shear thinning than poy Bis (azido methyl) Oxetane in soft melting stage.

7 illus, 1 table, 9 ref

002946   Chavan D A;Borkar S P (NO, V.J.T.I., Matunga, Mumbai) : Application of technical textiles in enviromental protection. J Text Ass 2008, 69(2), 75-81.

Technical textiles plays very important role in the enviromental protection. Technical textile usefulness hag been given in this article with respect to Environment protection such as Eco friendly textiles, fibers & fabrics causing minimizing damage to the environment & Sustainable fibers. Protection from Environment includes protective textiles, protection from pathogens, Antimocrobial treatments & different special fabric range. Some of latest cutting edge projects of technical textiles also have been discussed.

12 illus, 6 ref

001931   Zhu H;Chen P;Wu R;Zhang H (NO, China Academy of Safety Science and Technology, Beijing-100029, China, Email: xbfyzhuhua@163.com) : Microwave absorption properties of carbon fibre containing nonwovens. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 391-8.

A variety of nonwoven containing different weight percentages of pitch-based carbon fibre has been developed using through-air thermal bonding process or the spray bonding process and studied for its microwave absorbing capacity in the microwave frequency range 8 - 18GHz. Microwave reflectivity of the nonwoven is found closely related to the carbon fibre content. Electromagnetic parameters of the component fibres in the nonwoven have also been studied. Variation in microwave absorbing capacity of the nonwoven with the carbon fibre content is expounded according to the relationship between the electromagnetic parameters and the reflection coefficient of the nonwoven. as well as the relationship belueen the electromagnetic parameters and the attenuation constant of the nonwoven. The carbon fibre containing nonwoven has great potential in the military application as the radar camouflage material or in the non-defense application as the elcctromasnetic shieldinn material.

6 illus, 2 tables, 13 ref

001930   Tyagi G K;Goyal A;Gon D P;Mahajan D K (NO, The Technological Institute of Textile & sciences, Bhiwani-127 021) : Investigation on cotton ring and OE rotor yarn characteristics: part I-effect of caustic and enzymatic scouring treatments on dye uptake and mechanical characteristics. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 279-83.

The effect of scouring with enzymes and caustic soda on the mechanical and surface characteristics of cotton ring-and rotor-spun yarns has been studied. For both yarn structures, the flexural rigidity, hairiness, yam-to-metal friction and dye uptake increase markedly on scouring with enzymes and sodium hydroxide. Conventional scouring with NaOH renders the yarns strikingly strong and less extensible. However, the tenacity of both types of yarns is considerably reduced on enzymatic scouring. Scouring causes a marked increase in dye uptake of ring-and rotor-spun yarns; the increase is. however, more in NaOH scoured yarns than in the yarns spun with identical processing conditions but scoured with enzymes. The dye uptake decreases marginally with increasing rotor speed. The effect of opening roller speed on uptake of dye is also minimal.

4 tables, 19 ref

001929   Tyagi G K;GoPal A;Gon D P (NO, Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani-127 021, Email: drgktyagi@rediffmail.com) : Contribution of fibre profile to performance characteristics of polyster-viscose and polyster-cotton ring and MJS yarns. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 404-08.

Influence of fibre cross-sectional shape and production speed on the performance potential of polyester-viscose and polyester-cotton ring- and MJS yarns has been studied. The data indicate significant differences in the performance of the yarns produced with different spinning speeds and the yarns spun with high spinning speed display belter structural intrigrity. high compressional resilience, low compressional energy, high abrasion resistance and more hairiness than the yams spun tinder identical condition but with lower speed. Incorporating non-circular fibre in the mix greatly reduces structural integrity, abrasion resistance and hairiness for both yarn structures. The reduction in their characteristics is highly dependent on the fibre mix and production speed. For all experimental combinations, the MJS yarns possess better structural integrity, belter compressional resilience, less hairiness and lower abrasion resistance than the ring - spun yarns.

2 illus, 3 tables, 8 ref

001928   Thilagavathi G;Bala S K;Kannaian T (Textile Technology Dep, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 004thilagapsg@yahoo.co.in) : Microencapsulation of herbal extracts for microbial resistance in heaithcare textiles. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 351-4.

Antimicrobial finish has been imparted to the cotton fabric using extracts of neem and Mexican daisy by direct application and by microencapsulation using pad-dry-cure method. To enhance the durability of antimicrobial finish to number of washes, the microencapsulation of herbal extracts has been done using phase separation/coacervation. Microcapsules are produced using herbal extracts as core and acacia as wall material. Structure of microcapsules has been evaluated using light microscopy with image analysis technique, the presence of microcapsules by scanning electron microscopy, the antimicrobial efficacy by quantitative method in terms of bacterial reduction, and the wash durability of antimicrobial activity by AATCC 124. It is observed that the microencapsulated herbal extracts possess a very good resistance for microbes even after 15 washes.

2 illes, 2 tables, 6 ref

001927   Subramaninan S;Karthikeyan P S;Ragu Ramachandran M;Valmurugan A (Textile Technology Dep, A C College of Technology, Anna Univ, Chennai-600 025ssubbu@annauni.edu) : Variation in imperfection level due to winding of ring yarn. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 290-4.

The variation in imperfections level due to winding of carded and combed ring yarns and the effect of foreign matters such as black specks of broken seeds, lead bits and trashes present in the ring cop yarn, on imperfections during winding process for carded cotton ring yarn has been studied. The results show that the thin places increase, and thick places and neps decrease due to the fall of foreign matters during winding in the carded yarn. In the combed yarn, the thin places, thick places and neps increase during winding.

2 illes, 6 tables, 10 ref

001926   Subramanian S N;Venkatachalam A;Subramanian A (Textile Technology Dep, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 035, Email: nne@vsnl.com) : Prediction and optimization of yarn properties using genetics algorithm/artificial neural network. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 409-13.

Relative performance of the back propagation neural network (BPN) algorithm combined with genetic algorithm (GA) approach for the prediction/optimization of the properties of yarn produced on jet ring spinning system has been studied. Yarn samples of various linear densities have been produced on ring spinning machines using air-jet nozzles as retrofit by varying the nozzle parameter and the yarn properties studied. The hybrid application is used to predict selected yarn properties based on the effect of certain nozzle parameters. The network trained for a set of training vectors is found to predict the yarn properties for a compacting method with minimum error percentage. The proposed GA/BPN model could he extended to suggest a suitable compacting method for the desired yarn properties.

3 illus, 2 tables, 18 ref

001925   Shakyawar D B;Patni P C;Gupta N P (Southern Regional Research Station, Mannavanur PO, Via-Kodaikanal, Tamilnadu, Email: dbshakya_67@yahoo.co.in) : Studies on animal fibre blended hanhmade felts: part II-frictional compressional and thermal properties. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 301-05.

The frictional, compressional and thermal properties of handmade felts prepared from wool, rabbit hair, camel hair and their blends have been studied. Felts made from rabbit hair and its blends are smoother, warmer and softer as compared to those made from camel hair and sheep wool. Felts produced from sheep wool possess highest coefficient of friction and resiliency than those produced from camel hair. Frictional properties of felts are governed by fibre diameter, medullation content and compressibility of felt, whereas thermal behaviour is influenced by fibre diameter only.

2 illus, 3 tables, 12 ref

001924   Sang-Song L;Tsung-Huang L (Apparel Dep, National Pintung University of Sciences and Technology, Pintung, Taiwan 912, Republic of China, Email: ssl@mail.npust.edu.tw) : FAST system approach to discriminate the characterizad generic hand of fabrics. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 344-50.

An attempt has heen made to discriminate different characterized generic hands of cotton, linen, wool, and silk woven fabrics using discriminant analysis and neural network method. Ten physical properties based on the FAST system have been selected for the analysis. It is observed that the cotton, linen, wool, and silk groups of fabric can be characterized and discriminated by discriminant analysis and neural network method with 91.67 % and 98.33 % classified accuracy. Model test results show that the cotton type polyester, linen-textured rayon, wool type polyester, and silk-like polyester fabrics can be classified accurately by the neural network method. The confusion coefficient is found to be 100%.

4 illes, 9 tables, 7 ref

001923   Samanta A K;Singee D;Basu G;Biswas S K (NO, Intitute of Jute Technology, 35 Ballygunge Cricular Road, Kolkata-700 019, Email: ijt@cal2.vsnl.net.in) : Thermal behaviour and structural features of chemically and bio-chemically modified jute substrate. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 355-65.

Effects of NaOH treatment, conventional hot H₂O₂ bleaching, H₂O₂ and K₂S₂O₈ combined room-temperature bleaching, mixed enzyme treatment and N-methylol resin finishing on thermal behaviour and structural features of jute substrate have been studied. Differential scanning calorimetric study under nitrogen cover reveals distinct peaks for thermal degradation of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin components of chemically and bio-chemically modified jute, showing some positive or negative shifts of thermal degradation temperatures for each of the three major constituents of jute owing to alkaline/oxidative or enzymolytic degradation or resinification of the jute components. Thiourea formaldehyde (TUF)-resin treatment renders the jute substrate with maximum thermal stability. There is a measurable increase in the erystalliniky percentage for 1-5% NaOH treatment, and the same is decreased on oxidative or enzyme treatment and remains almost unaffected for AMF-resin or TUF-resin treatment. Observed chemical changes/interactions have been explained by the analysis of FTIR spectra and copper number of differently treated jute substrate. Higher copper number is observed for room-temperature bleaching than that for conventional H₂O₂ bleaching. Changes in the overall surface morphology of the treated fabrics have also been characterized by scanning electron microscopic study. Room-temperature bleaching followed by mixed enzyme treatment shows maximum surface cleanliness with a smooth and less hairy surface appearance. Both AMF-resin and TUF-resin treatments show a surface coverage with a resin film.

3 illus, 3 tables, 27 ref

001922   Samanta A K;Agarwal P;Datta S (NO, Institute of Jute Technology, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolakata-700 019, Email: ijt@cal2.vsnl.net.in) : Dyeing of jute and cotton fabrics using jackfruit wood extract: part 1 - effects of mordanting and dyeing process variable on colour yield and colour fastness properties. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 466-76.

Conventionally bleached jute and cotton fabrics have been subjected to pre-inordanting with selective single and double mordants using myrobolan (harda) and other mordants (metallic salts) followed by dyeing with aqueous extract of jackfruit wood and then studied for their mechanical and dyeing properties. It is observed that the application of IO-20% myrobolan followed by 10-20% of Al₂(SO₄)₃ or FeSO₄ in sequence have been identified as two most prospective mordanting systems. The study on the effect of dyeing process variables on surface colour strength indicates that the 90 min dyeing time. 70-90°C dyeing temperature. 11.0 pH, 1:30 material-to-liquor ratio. 20-30% mordants concentration. 30-40% dye concentration, and 15 gpl common salt are the optimum values with minor differences among the different fibre -mordant systems studied. Colour fastness to washing, rubbing and exposure to sunlight, in general, and dyeing-pH sensitivity, in particular, for selective fibre-mordants-dye systems have also been assessed and compared. Dyeing at pH 11.0 for both the double pre-mordanting systems offers overall good colour fastness properties.

2 illus, 5 tables, 16 ref

001921   Ratna Prasad A V;Murali Mohan Rao K;Gupta A V S S K S (Mechanical Engineering Dep, V R Siddhartha Engineering College, Vijayawada-520 007, Email: rp_atluri@yahoo.co.in) : Tensile and impact behaviour of rice straw-polyester composites. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 399-403.

Rice straw fibres have been extracted and incorporated in polyester resin matrix to prepare rice straw reinforced polyester composites and the tensile and impact properties of the resultant composites studied. The rice straw fibres have a tensile strength of ~ 69.72 MPa and Young's modulus of ~ 2427 MPa. The composites have been formulated up to fibre volume of about 40%, resulting in a mean tensile strength of 46 MPa which is greater than that of plain polyester (31.5 MPa). The tensile-modulus of composite is found to be 1045 MPa which is about 1.66 times to that of plain polyester. The specific tensile modulus is nearly 2.17 times to that of polyester resin. The work of fracture measured in impact at a fibre volume of 46% is found to be 284 J/m. Therefore, the straw-based composites have potential to be used as core material for structural board products.

4 illus, 2 tables, 20 ref

001920   Parthiban M;Kumar M R (Fashion Technology Dep, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 004, Email: parthi_mtech@yahoo.com) : Effect of fabric softner on thermal comfort of cotton and polyester fabrics. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 446-52.

The effect of fabric softener on thermal comfort properties, such as air permeability, thermal insulation value and wickabilily. of cotton and polyester fabrics after repeated laundering have been studied, lt is observed that the fabric softener treatment with different levels significantly decreases the air permeability and wickability of cotton fabrics but does not affect the polyester fabrics properties. The softener treatment increases the thermal insulation value of both cotton and polyester fabrics to a similar degree. Statistical analysis also indicates that the results are significant for air permeability, thermal insulation value and wickability of the fabrics. The chemical finishing has a significant influence on the thermal comfort properties of cotton and polyester fabrics after repealed laundering cycles.

3 illus, 3 tables, 10 ref

001919   Nergis B U (Textile Engineering Dep, Faculty of Textile Technology and Design, Instanbul Technical Univ, Istanbul, Turkey, Email: zygunf@itu.edu.tr) : Influenece of core yarn properties on pile loss in chenille plain knitted fabrics. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 434-38.

The effect of core yarn properties, such as core yarns material type, yarn count, structure. twist and twist direction. On the loss tendency of chenille yarns in plain knitted fabrics has been studied. It is observed that the chenilles produced with coarser cotton yarns result in lower amount of pile loss after abrasion than that produced with fine count components. Viscose fibres are not suitable materials for chenille yarns when their effect on pile loss tendency is considered. The use of core yarns having the same twist direction as the chenille yarn increases the abrasion resistance of fabrics, while it causes spirality problem. It is also found that the use of higher twist in core yarns is not a remedy for the pile loss problem in chenille yarns.

2 illus, 6 tables, 16 ref

001918   Mihailovie T;Asanovic K;Mihajlidi T (Textile Engineering Dep, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Belgrade Univ, Karnegijeva 4, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia, Email: tuca@tmf.bg.ac.yu) : Complex estimation of woven fabrics bending ability. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(4), 453-8.

The bending ability of cotton, wool and viscose woven fabrics under the action of their own weight has been examined using the direct indicators by cantilever method, and indirect indicators by disc method. The results obtained by the usage of direct and indirect indicators are found to be sensitive to raw material as well as constructional characteristics of woven fabrics. Values of direct as well as indirect indicators can be used for establishing the complex estimation of fabrics bending ability. It is found that the viscose fabric has the best bending ability and cotton (1) the poorest.

4 illus, 3 tables, 23 ref

001917   Kothari V K;Das A;Sreedevi R (Textile Technology Dep, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi-110 016, Email: kotharivk@gmail.com) : Cut resistance of textile fabrics-A thortical and an experimental approach. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 306-11.

A simplified mathematical model to predict the cutting behaviour of textile fabrics has been developed, It has been tried to identify the forces involved in culling a material with a reciprocating knife and also to derive an expression loi the sliding distance, which is a measure of the cut resistance of ihe material. A series of 100% cotton woven fabrics with varying pick density and weave pattern (plain, matt, twill and honeycomb) and another series of fabries with high performance fibres have been studied for their cut resistance properties. The plain weave has the maximum cut resistance, while the minimum cut resistance is exhibited by the honey comb weave. The cut resistance increases with the increase in picks/inch of the fabric. Study shows a very high cut resistance of the monofilament fabrics and the least cut resistance for para-aramid fabric along the warp direction, while the least cut resistance along the weft direction is exhibited by the HOPE fabric.

5 illes, 2 tables, 11 ref

001916   Kaur I;Vibha;Sharma R (Chemistry Dep, H P Univ, Shimla-171 005, Email: ij_kaur@hotmail.com) : Development of flame retardent cotton fabric through grafting and post-grafting reactions. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 312-8.

Low energy UV radiation induced graft copolymerization of methacrylamide (MAAm) onto cotton fabric has been carried out using benzophenonc as photosensitizer to introduce functionalities that can react with phosphorus containing compounds to impart flame rctardancy. The flammability behaviour of the grey cotton, cotton-g-poly (MAAm) and phosphorylated cotton-g-poly(MAAm) fabrics has been studied on a manual flammability tester. Maximum percentage of grafting (116.1%) is achieved at 75min irradiation time; 176.47x10^-2 moles/L [MAAm]; 5 mL photosensitizer; and 3 mL reaction medium. The grey cotton and cotton-g-poly (MAAm) fabrics react with phosphorous trichloride and diethylphosphite to introduce phosphorous element, thus imparting flame retardancy. Phosphorylated grafted fabric shows improved flame retardant behaviour in comparison to grafted fabric, which is better than the grey fabric. All the fabric samples have been characterized by FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis and crease recovery behaviour.

2 illes, 2 tables, 15 ref

001915   Hebsiba G A;thambidurai S (Industrial Chemistry Dep, Alagappa Univ, Karaikudi-630 003, Email: sthambi01@yahoo.co.in) : Tensile properties of cotton yarns after slack swelling and stretching in presence and absence of sodium hydroxide. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 284-9.

The properties of ring- and rotor-spun cotton yarns subjected to combined swelling and stretching in presence and absence of aqueous sodium hydroxide (21%w/w) at prc-delermined time intervals have been studied. Yarns stretched in the solution exhibit spectacular changes in their properties. The increment in shrinkage values is found to be more in slack swollen rotor-spun yarns as compared to that in ring-spun yarns. Crystallinity values show a decreasing trend with the increase in swelling time. Yarns stretched in solution show a tremendous increase in packing fraction. Tenacity and elongation values show significant increase with the solution stretch. The values of packing fraction, tenacity and per cent elongation are found to be higher in the case of ring-spun yarns. Scanning electron microscopy proves the swellabilily and packing of fibres in the yarns.

6 illes, 2 tables, 16ref,

001914   Ganesan P;Sam Vimal Rajkumar P;Thilagavathi G;Rajasekar K (Textile Technology Dep, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore-641 006, Email: ganeshg007@rediffmail.com) : Influence of twist on dimensional stability. J Text Ass 2008, 69(3), 113-18.

Dimensional stability is the ability of the fabric to resist changes in physical dimension, under varying conditions of heat, moisture & mechanical forces etc., Even though woven fabric Dimensional stability is comparatively good than the knitted fabric, it loses its dimensional stability after few washes. Twist level, direction of twist contributes to the control of dimensional stability of woven fabric because of various tensions created in the yarn structure. In this research, 36s count cotton yarn with S and Z twist is produced and seven types of plain woven fabrics were produced by changing the arrangement of warp and weft combination of S and Z twist yarns in the fabric to study the effect of twist direction and relaxation on dimensional stability. This study shows that the 'Z' warp and 'S' weft yarn combination gives lower shrinkage percentage than other combinations.

3 illus, 3 tables, 4 ref

001913   El-Gendy E H;Ali N M (National Centre for Radiation Research and Technology, Atomic Energy Authority, P O Box 29, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt, Email: eglal-elgendy@hotmail.com) : Effect of grafting acrylic acid, N-vinyl pyrrolidone and their mixture on the properties of polyester farbic. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 326-36.

The effect of grafting acrylic acid, N-vinyl pyrrolidone and their mixture on the hydropliilic, electrical, dyeing, thermal and mechanical properties of poiy(ethylene terephthalate) fabric has been studied. Grafting improves significantly the waier content, the water sorbency and the electrical conductivity of the fabric. Salt treatment of poly(ethylene terephthalate)-graft. poly(acrylic acid) and poly(ethylene terephthalate)-graft-poly(acrylic acid-co-N-vinyl pyrrolidone) causes further increase in the electrical conductivity. The dyeability of the fabric towards basic, direct and disperse dyes is also improved by grafting. The thermal gravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction analysis show the deteriorating effect of grafting. The activation energy for the thermal decomposition of the second stage and the fabric relative crystallinity are found to decrease linearly with the increase in graft yield. The rate of decrease in the activation energy with the increase in graft yield depends on the type of grafted monomer. The tensile strength and Young's modulus decrease with the increase in degree of grafting while the elongation-at-break shows different dependence.

9 illes, 6 tables, 28 ref

001912   Dorugade V A;Satyapriya D (Fibres & Textile Processing Technology Dep, ICT, Matunga, Mumbai-400 019, Email: dorugadevgs@yahoo.co.in) : Electrically conducting textiles. J Text Ass 2008, 69(3), 119-32.

With the rapid development of the electrical and particularly the electronics industry, a need arose for flexible conducting and semiconducting materials. Conducting polymers offer an interesting alternative to coated or filled plastics and textiles. Conductive textile composites based on polypyrrole or polyaniline result in structures showing surface resistances of 10-10³ ohms/square. These textile composites have a considerable advantage over metal- coated fabrics because of their excellent adhesion and noncorrosive character.

1 table, 47 ref

001911   Dhamija S;Manshahia M (NO, Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Birla Colony, Bhiwani-127 021, Email: titbhiwani@sancharnet.in) : Performance characteristics of mercerized ring-and compact- spun yarns produced at varying level of twist and traveller weight. Indian J Fibre Text Res 2007, 32(3), 295-300.

The performance characteristics of ring- and compact-spun yarns have been compared at varying level of lex twist factor, yarn linear density and traveller weight. It is observed that the ring yarns are comparatively softer due to the lower llexural rigidity. On the other hand, compact-spun yarns perform better in respect of abrasion resistance, tensile sticngih. knot strength, loop strength and breaking extension. The loss in tensile strength is higher when the yarn is looped as compared to that when the yarn is knotted: however, in both the cases the loss is found to be marginally lower for compacl-spun yarns. Further, the effect of mercerization on all these characteristics of both the yarns is found to be more pronounced in compact-spun yarns and the yarns spun at low twist factors.

4 tables, 26 ref