Producing light-weight bast fibers from canola biomass for technical textiles

Abstract

Due to the excessive use of water required for cotton cultivation, scientists in this field have been looking at waste biomass as an alternative source of fiber supply. Canola waste biomass is a source of textile fibers which effectively costs nothing, as the biomass can be collected from the waste plant stems of canola plants after harvesting. Therefore, an investigation has been conducted to identify the characteristics of canola fiber and of the canola cultivar ( Brassica napus L.) suitable for textile applications. In this research, a bio-inspired approach was applied to produce fiber from canola biomass by water retting of four different cultivars (HYHEAR 1, Topas, 5440, and 45H29) cultivated in a greenhouse under controlled atmospheric conditions. It was found that the structural hierarchy of fiber density, mechanical properties and other textile fiber properties of canola fiber differ from cultivar to cultivar, which can be carefully harnessed for different applications. Further, it was found that the density of canola fiber is much lower than that of cotton and other competitive bast fibers, owing to its hollow structure, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The results suggest that canola may be an excellent choice for manufacturing of non-woven fabrics, eco-composites, apparel or other technical textiles.