Recycling cotton into biocompatible aeoregels for medical, industry applications
Cotton-based products are naturally sourced, yet, some experts say that they are environmentally damaging, and thus, stretching their use through recycling is suggested. Moreover, it has been discovered that fabric waste from cotton could be made into aerogels. Aerogels are an advanced material in most industries, but production cost is usually expensive.
Dr. Hai Minh Duong, an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Mechanical Engineering said that the cotton aerogels have more desirable qualities than paper waste aerogels – the former can be fabricated in eight hours, which is much faster than current fabrication processes. The pellets are made of cotton and cellulose, creating a compound that is stronger, ultralight, and highly compressible. These properties are more suitable to mass production.
Chiefly, the material is highly effective at controlling bleeding and insulating heat. The biocompatible pellets can be integrated into hemorrhage control devicesas they expand up to 16 times their original size to exert pressure on a wound, but retain their structural integrity. The rapid expansion and absorption rates of the cotton aerogels is more effective at controlling bleeding than cellulose-based sponges.
The researchers also worked together with DSO National Laboratories to come up with a thermal jacket for military canteens to maintain near-freezing temperatures of crushed ice and liquid water.The jacket’s insulating capabilities were commendable, and it is lighter and much cheaper to produce, and so more advantageous for soldiers engaging in strenuous physical activities.
The cotton aerogels may have other valuable commercial and industrial uses, such as in cooler bags, pipeline insulation and transportation of liquefied natural gas which must be stored at low temperatures.
The NUS researchers have already filed a patent – the required funding and increased commercialisation could very well pave the way for future aerogel technologies.
