In the first half of the twentieth century, scientific communities worldwide endeavored to diminish dependence on expensive and scarce animal fibers like wool and silk. Their efforts focused on developing regenerated protein fibers, including soy, zein, and casein, to provide comparable benefits to natural protein fibers, such as lustrous appearance, warmth, and a soft feel. The popularity and cost-effectiveness of mass-produced petroleum-based synthetic polymer fibers during World War II diminished interest in developing soy protein fiber. Realizing the ecological degradation caused by fossil fuels and their derived products, a renewed drive exists to explore bio-based waste materials like soy protein. As a fast-growing crop, soy provides abundant byproducts with opportunities for waste valorization. The soybean oil extraction process produces soy protein as a byproduct, which is a highly tunable biopolymer. Various functional groups within the soy protein structure enable it to acquire different valuable properties. This review critically examines scholarly publications addressing soy protein fiber developmental history, soy protein microstructure modification methods, and soy protein fiber spinning technologies. Additionally, we provide our scientific-based views relevant to overcoming the limitations of previous work and share prospects to make soy protein byproducts viable textile fibers.

The effect of different concentrations of Hydroperm T (a hydrophilic surface finishes) on the electrostatic charging and decay properties of filament polyester fabrics, has been investigated. The fabric was subjected to frictional charging with steel and PTFE (Teflon®) and the electrostatic properties were investigated. The technique adopted not only measured the charge in the location of the tribocharging, but was also able to assess the distribution and dissipation of the charge across the surface of the fabric. While the charge decay for the untreated fabric was slow and linear, a double exponential charge decay was observed on the samples treated with Hydroperm^® T finish. The charge generated on the fabric treated with higher concentration (0.5%) Hydroperm^® T finish decayed very quickly when compared to the other samples. Resistivity measurements indicate that the Hydroperm^® T treated samples have lower resistivity when compared with the untreated samples.

Cellulose microfibrils (CMFs) and micronized rubber powder (MRP) can be derived from low or negative-cost agricultural/industrial waste streams and offer environment-friendly and cost-effective pathways to develop engineering products. This study investigated the efficacy of adding these micromodifiers on the performance characteristics of asphalt binders. In this work, samples were produced using a mixture of slow-setting anionic asphalt emulsion with various combinations of MRP (at 0, 2 and 10 wt %) and four types of CMFs (hydrophobic and hydrophilic with crystalline ratios of 86% and 95%) at 0, 2 and 5 wt %. The performance of modified asphalt samples was assessed by penetration depth (PD), softening point (SP), and penetration index (PI). Linear regression analysis showed that adding CMFs and/or MRP reduced PD and increased SP values. The type of CMFs significantly affected the performance, which becomes more distinct with the increased weight content of CMFs. While hydrophilic CMFs caused increases in SP and PI values, no clear trend was seen to determine the effect of CMF crystallinity. It was also discovered that the combined addition of CMF and MRP achieved similar PI values at lower total weight content compared to using MRP alone.