Cellulose-based textiles present a valuable opportunity to enhance sustainability within the textile sector. Traditionally, cellulose fibers are predominantly derived from wood pulp; however, recent research led by Chalmers University of Technology demonstrates the feasibility of utilizing agricultural residues from wheat and oat as alternative raw materials.
The proposed process offers advantages over forest-based cellulose production by being less chemically intensive and operationally simpler. Moreover, it adds value to crop byproducts that are often underutilized or discarded.
Given the high environmental footprint of conventional cotton cultivation, particularly its water demand, cellulose fibers from non-wood biomass have attracted increasing interest as a more resource-efficient raw material for textile production.
While prior research has focused on wood-derived cellulose, this study, published in RSC Sustainability, explores the use of agricultural wastes abundant in Sweden. The researchers evaluated oat husks, wheat straw, potato pulp, and sugar beet pulp for their suitability in producing dissolving pulp — the purified cellulose required for fiber production.
Results indicated that oat husks and wheat straw were the most promising feedstocks for generating high-quality dissolving pulp suitable for textile manufacturing.
“With this method, which we further developed in this study, we show that you can make textile pulp from certain agricultural waste products,” says Diana Bernin, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers and senior researcher in the study.
“This is an important step towards being able to create textiles from waste products instead of using cotton, which isn’t climate-friendly, or wood, a material that we want to use for so many things while also needing to preserve it for the benefit of the climate.”
More Sustainable Manufacturing With Lye
The team used soda pulping as one part of the process. This means that the raw material is boiled in lye, which makes manufacturing more sustainable, according to a press release.
“Lye doesn’t contain any toxins or substances that impact nature,” she explains. “Soda pulping doesn’t work for wood fibers, so making textile pulp from wheat straw and oat husks requires fewer chemicals than making forest-based cellulose. It’s also a simpler procedure, in part because it doesn’t require processing such as chipping and debarking.
“In addition, it increases the economic value of oats and wheat, when leftovers from their production can be used as raw materials for cellulose extraction.”
Bernin notes that it is highly likely that various other types of agricultural waste can be utilized for textile production using the method developed by her team. She is currently participating in an international project which has demonstrated that press cake derived from field grass can effectively be processed into dissolving pulp using this technique.
In ongoing, unpublished research, the team has advanced toward practical application by producing textile fibers from pulp made both from wheat residues and grass press cake.
Leveraging Existing Industry Infrastructure
Looking ahead, Bernin sees significant potential in integrating this approach with the existing pulp and paper industry, which already possesses the necessary technologies and processes to efficiently dissolve pulp derived from agricultural waste streams.
“If we can make use of our existing industry and adjust their processes instead of building new production facilities, we’ve already come a long way,” she says.
The lead author of the study is Joanna Wojtasz, former postdoc at Chalmers and now a researcher at the innovation company Tree To Textile, which is one of the partners in the project.
“The study shows that there is a lot of potential in agricultural waste,” Wojtasz says. “We really shouldn’t disregard the opportunity to use this type of cellulose streams for our future clothing.”
