A novel sustainable cellulosic fibrous blended yarns as an alternative to cotton for textile applications

Cotton’s environmental impact due to high water, fertilizer, and pesticide use is a concern despite the rising demand for natural fibers; however, significant research on different natural fiber blends is lacking. This study aims to bridge this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of sustainable yarn blends. Six different natural cellulosic fibers, cotton, sisal, banana, flax, hemp, and jute were used to make two different yarn blends in 80:20 and 60:40 blend ratios. Fiber’s mechanical, structural properties were analyzed by using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Further yarn tenacity, yarn elongation, hairiness of the yarns, coefficient of variation of mass, and Imperfection Index were evaluated. Dunnett analysis is also used to identify notable variations between the yarn blends. The results showed that increasing the blend ratio of alternative fibers with cotton from 20% to 40% resulted in a decrease in the tenacity and breaking elongation of the yarn. This study developed 11 yarns by blending cotton with natural fibers (flax, banana, hemp, sisal, and jute) while blends like cotton/sisal showed potential for enhanced strength, most exhibited decreased tenacity, increased hairiness, and a higher imperfection index with higher blend ratio of alternative fiber.