Thermochemical degradation of cotton fabric under mild conditions

Fashion and Textiles

Theanne Schiros¹  Taejin Kim²  Gary Halada²  Yu-Chung Lin³  Yiwei Fang³  Emily Evans⁴  Elizabeth Orlando⁵  Hye Jung Jung⁶  Miriam Rafailovich⁷  Asta Skocir⁸  Michael Cuiffo⁹ 

[1] Assistant Professor, Department of Math and Science, Fashion Institute of Technology, 10001, New York City, NY, USA;Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA;Graduate student, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA;Junior student, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, 12203, Albany, NY, USA;Junior student, Ward Melville High School, 11733, East Setauket, NY, USA;Professor, Da Vinci College of General Education, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea;Professor, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA;Professor, Fashion Design Department, Fashion Institute of Technology, 10001, New York City, NY, USA;Research Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Stony Brook University, 11794, Stony Brook, NY, USA;

关键词: Cotton fabric degradation;    Electron microscopy;    Vibrational spectroscopy;    X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy;    Streaming potential;    Surface charge transfer;    Citric acid;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40691-021-00263-8

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Textile waste presents a major burden on the environment, contributing to climate change and chemical pollution as toxic dyes and finishing chemicals enter the environment through landfill leachate. Moreover, the majority of textile waste reaching landfills is discarded clothing, which could be reused or recycled. Here we investigate environmentally benign morphology changing of cotton textiles as a precursor for reintegration into a circular materials economy. At 50 °C using low concentrations of acids and bases, the interfiber structures of woven cotton were successfully degraded when treated with the following sequence of chemical treatment: citric acid, urea, sodium hydroxide, ammonium hydroxide, and sodium nitrate. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) reveal separation of the constituent fibers without depolymerization of the cellulose structure, and streaming potential measurements indicate that surface charge effects play a key role in facilitating degradation. The proposed reaction procedures show feasibility of effective waste-fabric recycling processes without chemically intensive processes, in which staple fibers are recovered and can be re-spun into new textiles.

【 授权许可】

CC BY