Abstract
In the dry‑defibration method, an impact force is repeatedly applied to separate a substrate into fibers. In this study, silkworm cocoons were processed by dry‑defibration to obtain short fibers while retaining sericin. Nonwoven sheets were then fabricated by depositing the fibers to form a web, followed by moisture addition and thermal pressing. Microscopic observations indicated that dissolved sericin functioned as a binder between fibers, enabling sheet formation without external adhesives. Furthermore, the moisture absorption and retention of the cocoon‑fiber nonwovens were approximately 1.5 times those of cotton nonwoven sheets under the same conditioning protocol. These results demonstrate that dry‑defibration provides a water‑saving route to produce sericin‑retaining cocoon fibers and functional nonwovens, suggesting potential for equipment downsizing and simplified processing compared with conventional wet approaches.
