University of Alberta researchers aim to turn straw into an eco-friendly, multipurpose material that can be used for anything from sturdy outerwear to dental floss. The effort, headed by Patricia Dolez, a textile scientist from the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences, is focused on creating efficient processes for the processing and producing specialized fibers made from cellulose, a naturally occurring substance present in all plants. When the project is finished, it will help the economy, the ecology, and Canada’s textile manufacturing industry. Dolez stated in a press statement that “there is a lot of overall potential for this work to strengthen Canada’s bioeconomy by creating made-in-Canada fibers using local sources of cellulose in an environmentally friendly process.”
Dolez and her colleagues are experimenting with hemp cellulose cultivated in Canada to find the ideal conditions for creating lyocell, an artificial fiber that may be used to make textiles for a variety of applications.
Since the solvent used to make lyocell is nearly entirely reusable, it is an environmentally friendly method of generating textile fibers. According to Lelia Lawson, a human ecology PhD candidate involved in the experiment, agricultural straw that would typically be discarded in the field is now used thanks to the regenerated cellulose fibers.
In particular, hemp presents excellent prospects as a nearby source of cellulose needed for the lyocell manufacturing process. Although Canada lacks conventional hemp supplies like eucalyptus trees and bamboo plants, its long days make it an ideal place to produce hemp. Given that it can reach a height of 20 feet, there will be more feedstock available. This crop produces a lot of biomass, Lawson continued.
The study started in 2023 at the Protective Clothing and Equipment Research facility and the Biorefining and Conversions and Fermentation Laboratory at the University of Arizona. There are two stages to the work: the first is investigating ways to improve the cellulose filament manufacturing process.
Dolez continued, “We want to see how we can optimize the selection of blending different types of hemp, to get the best performance in qualities like strength, when taking the cellulose and making a fiber out of it.”
Subsequently, the scientists are incorporating additional components into the cellulose to alter the fiber’s properties, making it resilient to moisture, fire, ultraviolet light, and shrinking.
The foundation for studying hemp has already been established by the researchers’ ability to produce lyocell fiber from wood pulp cellulose in preliminary control trials.
“We are thrilled to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach we devised. Lawson continued, “We’re still learning new things and improving the process, but we can move forward with experiments using hemp and other feedstocks, like cellulose from used clothing, because we have a proof of concept with existing wood pulp.”
