Improved Mechanical Recycling of Cellulose Fibres and the Co-Production of Nanocellulose: A Biochemical Approach to Textile Waste Management

改进纤维素纤维的机械回收和纳米纤维素的联合生产：纺织废物管理的生化方法

• 批准号: 2905397
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2905397
• 关键词: Improved; Mechanical; Recycling; Cellulose; Fibres

Abbreviations: SEM: Scanning electron microscopyXRD: X-ray diffractionNCC: Nanocellulose crystalsAbstractWhilst synthetic fibre recycling has been established, the recycling of cotton is still far behind the expected recycling rates (1). Mechanical recycling can help to combat this issue. However, the high frictional actions in mechanical recycling which shorten and degrade the quality of waste fibres, places restrictions on the use of the method (2).Consequently, mechanical recycling can only offer semi-closed loop solutions whereby a small number of waste fibres, with adequate lengths, are combined with virgin fibres to produce new yarns. To maintain the lengths of waste fibres during shredding thereby increasing the number of suitable extracted fibres, the frictional forces must be reduced. This can be achieved by reducing inter-yarn friction within the textile, loosening it and therefore reducing the shredding force.Environmentally friendly cellulase-enzyme treatments have previously been shown to reduce the shear rigidity of fabrics (3) and assist in the refining of pulp by lowering the shredding force (4). These enzymes have also been used to produce high-strength NCCs from cotton waste, however, the current methodologies suffer from low yields (5). This study investigates the feasibility of cellulase as a pre-treatment to mechanical recycling, decreasing the inter-yarn friction of woven cotton fabric and co-producing NCCs that can be used as a reinforcing textile coating. The treatments reduce friction by reducing contact points between fibres and loosening the structure. Keywords: Mechanical recycling, enzymes, textile waste, Nanocellulose, Textile coating, frictional forcesResearch question: Can a cellulase enzyme treatment be used as a pre-treatment to mechanical recycling?Research aims: This project seeks to investigate the effect of enzyme treatments on the inter-yarn friction of woven cotton fabric during mechanical shredding.Objectives:1. To optimize the enzyme treatment to reduce the combing force and inter-yarn friction of cellulose-based textiles.2. To isolate long fibres from mechanical shredding of treated textiles.3. To produce a methodology to extract enzyme produced Nanocellulose crystals (NCCs) from the reaction solution.4. To coat cellulose fibres with enzyme derived NCC and quantify the mechanical properties.Approach: The student will be conducting laboratory work to treat cellulose-based textiles e.g., cotton, lyocell and/or viscose with a cellulase enzyme solution. The textiles will then be characterized using several laboratory techniques, such as XRD and SEM, to understand the effects of enzyme treatment on the structure and morphology of the textile. Changes in the shear properties will also be measured using mechanical tests such as bias extension tests and combing tests. The student will measure the lengths of treated fibres after mechanical shredding to assess the success of the treatments in maintaining fibre lengths.Novel engineering and/or physical sciences content: High-value NCC production integrated into enzyme-assisted mechanical recycling of textile waste.

缩略语：SEM：扫描电子显微镜XRD：X射线衍射NCC：纳米纤维素晶体摘要虽然合成纤维的回收已经建立，但棉花的回收仍然远远落后于预期的回收率（1）。机械回收可以帮助解决这个问题。然而，机械回收中的高摩擦作用会缩短废纤维并降低其质量，这限制了方法（2）的使用。因此，机械回收只能提供半闭环解决方案，其中少量具有足够长度的废纤维与原始纤维结合以生产新纱线。为了在切碎过程中保持废纤维的长度，从而增加合适的提取纤维的数量，必须减小摩擦力。这可以通过减少纺织品内纱线间的摩擦，使其松弛，从而降低切碎力来实现。环境友好的纤维素酶-酶处理之前已被证明可以降低织物的剪切刚度（3），并通过降低切碎力（4）来帮助纸浆的精制。这些酶也被用于从棉花废料中生产高强度NCC，然而，目前的方法产率低（5）。本研究探讨了纤维素酶作为机械回收的预处理的可行性，降低了机织物的纱线间摩擦，并共同产生可用作增强纺织品涂层的NCC。这些处理通过减少纤维之间的接触点和疏松结构来减少摩擦。保留字：机械回收，酶，纺织废料，纳米纤维素，纺织涂层，摩擦力研究问题：纤维素酶处理可以用作机械回收的预处理吗？研究目的：本研究旨在探讨酶处理对棉织物机械切碎过程中纱线间摩擦力的影响。优化酶处理工艺，降低纤维素基织物的梳理力和纱间摩擦.从处理过的纺织品的机械切碎中分离出长纤维。提出一种从反应溶液中提取酶产生的纳米纤维素晶体（NCC）的方法.用酶衍生的NCC涂覆纤维素纤维并量化机械性能。方法：学生将进行实验室工作，处理纤维素基纺织品，例如，棉、莱赛尔纤维和/或粘胶纤维与纤维素酶溶液。然后将使用几种实验室技术（如XRD和SEM）对纺织品进行表征，以了解酶处理对纺织品结构和形态的影响。剪切性能的变化也将使用机械测试来测量，例如偏置延伸测试和梳理测试。学生将测量机械切碎后处理过的纤维的长度，以评估处理在保持纤维长度方面的成功性。新的工程和/或物理科学内容：将高价值的NCC生产集成到纺织废料的酶辅助机械回收中。