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SECTION 13 Beyond the farm gate This section brought to you in association with
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Converting low-grade cotton into gel with variable use qualities By George Watson
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big part of what makes West Texas one of the leading cotton-producing regions in the world is the hot, dry weather that defines the area and is ideal for encouraging cotton growth. But that weather also can be unpredictable and, therefore, can influence cotton crops negatively as well. Given the impact the cotton industry has on both local and world economies, all steps are taken to ensure as promising a cotton crop as possible each year. When that doesn’t happen, though, it’s vital for farmers to be able to salvage as much of their crop as possible, even if it is not of the highest-quality cotton. Thanks to research being
conducted at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute (FBRI), under the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources at Texas Tech University, low-grade cotton could end up being just as valuable as the high-grade yields. Noureddine Abidi, the Leidigh Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science and managing director of the FBRI, has been awarded a patent for a process he developed that can break down low-grade cotton into pure cellulose, which then can be converted into a gel that can be used in 3D printing, for example, or other processes to create usable, biodegradable products. “The idea is to find a new use for low-grade cotton or any recyclable that is 100 percent cotton, and trying to replace, to some extent, petroleum-based products,” Abidi said. “It is still a valuable product that we need to transform into something else.” Abidi’s goal with the research is to be able to take the gel from low-grade cotton and use it to replace as many nonbiodegradable products, like plastic trash bags, as possible. Abidi and fellow researchers already have shown in the FBRI laboratory that the process will work, using it to convert low-grade cotton into products such as protective film and dye-absorbent material that, in theory, could be used to help with watercontamination cleanup. “This process, I think, can open new applications for cotton as long as the application can tolerate it, like with high temperatures,” Abidi said. “That is the variable. But as long as you have the gel, you can think of unlimited uses.”
Dissolving cotton
Noureddine Abidi. 172 — COTTON YEARBOOK 2019
Dissolving cotton into a gel is actually a pretty simple process. After cleaning the cotton, the fibres are placed into a solution that begins to break them down into a single cellulosic chain. Over about a 24-hour period, the fibres transform into their pure cellulose state, then the water and solvent are drained from the solution, leaving the pliable gel that can be formed into any desired shape.
