Preface

Compared with synthetic fibers, natural fibers are sustainable, carbon neutral, and environmentally friendly. They have a variety of applications and can be developed into hybrid products that can be used as biomaterials and fusion materials via coating or modification. They can also be recycled and reused.

Research on eco-friendly fibers is being conducted not only in the green technology fields such as organic fibers, renewable fibers, natural fibers, and biodegradable fibers but also in the nanofiber technology fields such as hydrogen battery separators and medical fibers. The potential of natural fibers as building materials for civil engineering is also attracting research attention.

In the past, artificial fibers were usually made of viscose rayon, a regenerated fiber made by dissolving wood pulp, a natural material, in an alkali solution and chemically spinning it. It was the first synthetic fiber with better hygroscopicity than cotton and a luster like silk. Semi-synthetic fibers called acetate or triacetate are made from natural pulp or cotton linter as raw materials and chemically changed.

Among eco-friendly textile materials, biomass-based textile materials are biodegradable but require composite technology for production. As such, a high-efficiency, eco-friendly process that minimizes the use and emission of polluting or hazardous chemicals is needed.

This book presents a comprehensive overview of natural fibers and examines techniques for modifying them so they can be used for practical applications. It discusses the 2D and 3D structure characteristics of a variety of fibers, including cellulosebased natural fibers such as cotton fibers.

We sincerely thank all the contributing authors as well as Author Service Manager Ms. Paula Gavran at IntechOpen.

> **Han-Yong Jeon** Department of Chemical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea

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Section 1

Overview of Natural Fibers

Section 1
