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The Wool Handbook

Morphology, Structure, Properties, Processing, and Applications

1st Edition - October 1, 2023

Editors: Seiko Jose, Sabu Thomas, Gautam Basu

Paperback ISBN:

9 7 8 - 0 - 3 2 3 - 9 9 5 9 8 - 6

The Wool Handbook: Morphology, Structure, Property and Applications explores the fundamental aspects of wool fibers as well as traditional and novel applications of wool in areas… Read more

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The Wool Handbook: Morphology, Structure, Property and Applications explores the fundamental aspects of wool fibers as well as traditional and novel applications of wool in areas including polymer composites and technical textiles. Apart from textiles and garments, wool has long been used for various diversified applications due to its unique material properties. Wool is inherently fire resistant, antimicrobial, flexible and antibacterial, and as a natural material, it can be used to create environmentally sustainable products. This book explains basic and advanced topics related to wool fibers, from shearing to marketing, drawing on academic and industrial research from a range of subjects.

Providing statistics, processing methods, and testing and characterization techniques for wool fiber, this book will help readers to use wool fibers to find new applications and solutions.

1. Introduction to wool technology : A brief introduction to wool and its processing technology

2. Wool production and statistics, Current market scenario :Recent statistics in wool production, export and imports, Current market potential of wool and woollen products

3. Wool fibre identification

4. Pre-processing of wool : Brief about shearing, cleaning, grading, scouring

5. Mechanical processing of wool

6. Wool Dyeing

7. Functional Finishes of Wool

8. Wool fibre morphology and chemical structure :The morphological characters of different breeds of wool, description on cuticle, cortex and medulla, their function

9. Quality evaluation of wool: Methods of evaluation of quality of wool, parameters, important standards

10. Chemical and Physical Properties of Wool

11. Physical and chemical modification of wool

12. Morphology studies using microscopic techniques : Advanced microscopic studies on wool

13. Spectroscopic studies on wool fibers

14. Thermal properties of wool: Thermal degradation studies, fire retardant properties

15. Sustainable Moth Repellent Finishing for Wool

16. Microbial attack and prevention methods :Microbial attack on wool fibre, causes, and remedies

17. Anti shrink finishing of woollens :Shrink resist treatment on woollens using various physical and chemical methods

18. Biodegradability and life cycle analysis of wool: Analysis of biodegradation of wool, wool fertilizers, life cycle studies

19. Applications of wool fibre for technical textiles : Recent product developments on woollens for technical textiles

20. Wool in composites : Wool fibre as a component in bio-composites

21. Sound insulation properties of wool fiber

22. Keratin extraction and its application: Extraction of wool keratin and application in diversified fields

23. Blending of wool with other fibres :Mixing of wool with other natural/synthetic fibres for different applications

24. Recycling of wool: Making wool more sustainable

25. By-products during processing of fibre and their use: Generation of by-products during wool processing and their utilization

26. Future prospective in woollens :Future prospective of wool and woollen products

Seiko Jose

Seiko Jose PhD is a scientist, working at ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, India. He has over 17 years’ experience in textiles including time spent in industry and academia. His industrial experience is focused on wet processing of cotton, silk, and linen processing units. For the last 8 eight years of his research career, he has worked with a range of natural fibres such as, wool, jute, pineapple leaf fibre, coir, flax, and ramie. He has contributed to 30 research papers and 9 book chapters. His major research areas are extraction and characterization of natural fibre, textile dyeing and finishing, eco-friendly textile processing, natural fibre composites, and natural dyes.

Affiliations and expertise

Scientist, Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, Rajasthan, India

Sabu Thomas

Prof. Sabu Thomas is one of India’s most renowned scientists known for his contributions in polymer science and nanotechnology. He is a scientist, administrator and a teacher of national and international students. He joined Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, to pursue his bachelor’s degree in polymer science and rubber technology. He went on to complete his Ph. D. at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India. After attaining industrial experience, he returned to Mahatma Gandhi University, India, as a lecturer. He currently serves as the Vice Chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi University. He has guided over 116 Ph. D students. He has received several national and international awards for best researcher and is a member of numerous scientific bodies and committees. He has been honoured with honorary doctorates from University of South Brittany, France; University of Lorraine, France and Siberian Federal University, Russia. He has authored more than 1,200 research publications and 156 books. He has been ranked 114th in the list of the world’s best scientists (Stanford University, USA). He was also selected for the DST Nanomission award 2020. He received Honorary Professorship from Siberian Federal University in 2020. Last year he was honoured with C.N.R Rao Award Prize Lecture in Advanced Materials by Materials Research Society of India (MRSI). He was elected as the Foreign Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences (EurASc)-2019. In 2022 he was honoured the Bailey Medal Award and in 2021 was awarded the Kairali Lifetime Research Award 2021 by the Kerala government.

Affiliations and expertise

Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

Gautam Basu

Dr Gautam Basu is the former Principal Scientist & Head of the Mechanical Processing Division, ICAR-National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He completed his Masters degree in Textile Technology and his Ph. D. in Polymer Science & Technology from the University of Calcutta. He is a fellow of Institution of Engineers (India). He has published nearly 100 papers, including research, review, training manual, lecture notes, seminar proceedings, in addition to six books and thirteen book chapters. Four patents have been awarded to him and two others are under process. His 40 years of work experience includes 9 years in Industry and 31 years in research institutes. His major areas of work are, investigation of structure and property of natural fibres and their value addition, improvement in process performance of natural fibres through various pre-treatments, technical textiles including geotextiles, and development of machinery & testing instruments. He was a member of various recommending bodies (on natural fibres) formed by Government agencies. He was involved in 28 research projects including as Principal Investigator of the World Bank, and Govt. of India funded projects. He is having more than 950 Google citations with H index of 16.

Affiliations and expertise

Ex-Principal Scientist and Head, Mechanical Processing Division, ICAR-National Institute of Natural Fibre Engineering and Technology, Kolkata, India