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Title: FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF MODIFIED COTTON TRASH EXTRACTS

Author
item Allen, Angela
item Foulk, Jonn
item Gamble, Gary

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2006
Publication Date: 7/5/2006
Citation: Allen, A.M., Foulk, J.A., Gamble, G.R. 2006. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of modified cotton trash extracts. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference, San Antonio, Texas. p.1938-1945.

Interpretive Summary: BOTANICAL COTTON TRASH (EX. LEAF, STEM, SEED, HULL, AND OTHERS) HAS BEEN KNOWN TO REMAIN ENTANGLED WITHIN THE COTTON FIBERS THROUGHOUT GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING. THERE ARE SEVERAL TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE THAT CAN IDENTIFY THE PRESENCE OF TRASH BY MEANS OF SIZE AND WEIGHT. HOWEVER, THE GOAL IS TO INVESTIGATE WAYS TO DISTINGUISH TYPES OF BOTANICAL COTTON TRASH THAT REMAINS WITHIN THE COTTON FIBERS, REGARDLESS OF THE PROCESSING HISTORY. TWO APPROACHES WERE EXPLORED: (1) TRASH SAMPLES WERE SUBJECTED TO CONDITIONS SIMILAR TO GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING BY SIZE REDUCTION AND HEAT TREATMENTS, AND (2) TRASH SAMPLES WERE FURTHER EVALUATED BY PERFORMING EXTRACTIONS TO REMOVE SPECIFIC CHEMICAL COMPONENTS. MID-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY HAS THE CAPABILITY OF EVALUATING ANY DIFFERENCES THAT MIGHT OCCUR DURING EITHER APPROACH.

Technical Abstract: THERE IS AN ONGOING RESEARCH EFFORT AT THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO IMPROVE AN EXISTING SPECTRAL DATABASE, ENABLING BOTANICAL COTTON TRASH SAMPLES TO BE IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE USE OF MID-INFRARED (MID-IR) SPECTROSCOPY. LEAF, HULL, SHALE, STEM, SEED, AND OTHER TYPES OF TRASH HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO BE PROBLEMATIC IN THE EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY OF COTTON THROUGHOUT THE TEXTILE SPINNING PROCESSES. CURRENTLY, SEVERAL TECHNIQUES ARE BEING EMPLOYED TO DETECT THE PRESENCE OF TRASH IN COTTON (EX. SHIRLEY ANALYZER, AFIS, AND HVI) WHICH ARE BASED ON PHYSICAL SIZE AND WEIGHT. HOWEVER, MORE INNOVATIVE METHODS NEED TO BE EXPLORED IN ORDER TO CLASSIFY SPECIFIC TYPES OF TRASH FOUND IN COTTON DURING DIFFERENT STAGES OF GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING. THIS RESEARCH SIMULATES GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING BY SUBJECTING BOTANICAL TRASH SAMPLES TO VARIOUS SIZE REDUCTIONS AND THERMAL CONDITIONS. PRIOR TO PERFORMING EXTRACTIONS, TRASH SAMPLES WERE REDUCED FROM THEIR RAW SAMPLE SIZE USING A WILEY MILL WITH 20 AND 80 MESHES AND THEN SUBJECTED TO THERMAL TREATMENTS. FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) SPECTROMETRY WAS USED FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THESE DIFFERENT TRASH EXTRACTIONS WHICH WHERE OBTAINED FROM SIMULATED GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING CONDITIONS. THE INFRARED SPECTROSCOPIC DATA INDICATED THAT THIS TECHNIQUE TO THE POTENTIAL TO BE AN APPROACH TO LOCATING DEFINITE REGIONS OF TRASH IN SAMPLES BY EVALUATING THE DIFFERENCES THAT OCCURRED DURING GINNING AND TEXTILE PROCESSING.