Chemical recycling of hemp waste textiles via the ionic liquid based dry-jet-wet spinning technology

• Published in: Textile research journal Vol. 93; no. 11-12; pp. 2545 - 2557
• Main Authors: Rissanen, Marja, Schlapp-Hackl, Inge, Sawada, Daisuke, Raiskio, Susanna, Ojha, Krishna, Smith, Edward, Sixta, Herbert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.06.2023; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Abrasion; Abrasion resistance; Acetic acid; Birefringence; Cellulose; Cellulose fibers; Chemical recycling; Elongation; Fabric structures; Fabrics; Fibers; Fineness; Hemp; Ionic liquids; Recycling; Sulfuric acid; Tensile properties; Tensile tests; Textile industry wastes; Textiles; Wet spinning; X-ray diffraction; Yarn; Yarns; hemp; lyocell; fibers; Cellulose; chemical recycling; textiles; dry-jet-wet spinning
• ISSN: 0040-5175; 1746-7748
• DOI: 10.1177/00405175221143744

The chemical recycling of hemp fabric into high-tenacity man-made cellulose fibers was demonstrated. The fabric was laundered 25 and 50 times to mimic the wear cycles of post-consumer textile waste. Despite the launderings, the molar mass of the material was still too high for recycling via dry-jet-wet spinning. Thus, the fabrics were treated with an aqueous sulfuric acid solution to adjust the intrinsic viscosity to the targeted level of 400–500 ml/g. The acid hydrolyzed sample was dissolved in 1,5-diazabicyclo[4.3.0]non-5-enium acetate and man-made cellulose fibers were regenerated by dry-jet-wet spinning. The properties of hemp and regenerated fibers were determined by tensile testing, birefringence measurements, and X-ray diffraction. Regenerated fibers were spun into yarn and knitted into a fabric. The tensile properties of the yarn and the abrasion and pilling resistance of the fabric were determined. Regenerated fibers showed a higher modulus of toughness (55.9 MPa) compared with hemp fibers (28.7 MPa). The fineness and staple length uniformity of regenerated fibers resulted in a high yarn structure evenness, a yarn tenacity of 28.1 cN/tex, and an elongation at break of 7.5%. Due to the even fabric structure, the fabric from regenerated fibers showed higher abrasion resistance than the hemp fabric.