EFFECT OF MICRONAIRE ON WATER-RETENTION OF COTTON FIBERS

The water retention of cotton fibers ranging in micronaire values from 2.7 to 7.1 has been determined by the centrifuge method. It was shown that there is a strong inverse relationship between water retention a nd micronaire values of cotton fibers. Effect of micronaire on water r etention of polyacrylamide-grafted cotton has also been investigated. The water retention of cotton fibers was increased by graft polymeriza tion and low micronaire cotton retained substantially higher water tha n the high micronaire cotton.