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Title: PRELIMINARY FOURIER-TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS OF COTTON TRASH

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

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/28/2006
Publication Date: 4/5/2007
Citation: Allen, A.M., Foulk, J.A., Gamble, G.R. 2007. Preliminary Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis on modified cotton trash. Journal of Cotton Science. 11(1):68-74.

Interpretive Summary: Various cotton trash have caused problems throughout processing. Recent studies show the capabilities of mid-infrared spectroscopic analysis for evaluating differences among the cotton trash taken out of the field. There is a need to further those studies by investigating differences of cotton trash during stages of processing. Therefore, botanical cotton trash samples (stem, leaf, hull, and seed coat) were subjected to conditions similar to ginning and textile processing. The goal of this research was to analyze the different trash samples as they were subjected to various thermal conditions as well as physical states as seen in the textile processes.

Technical Abstract: Ongoing research efforts at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) consist of method developments for the identification of cotton trash. Cotton trash, such as botanical trash (eg. as leaf, stem, hull, bark, etc.), hasa been reported to be problematic in the efficiency and quality of cotton throughout ginning and textile processing. Currently, there are several methods being utilized to evaluate the presence of trash by gravimetric or geometric means. However, novel research is being explored through the use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements in order to identify or classify different types of trash found in cotton. This paper will report on the effects of cotton trash as it is subjected to physical modifications (size reduction and thermal treatment) which occur during ginning. These preliminary results will be vital for the improvement on an existing spectral database.