Chemical Countermeasures
And Advanced Materials Laboratory
December, 2014
December 1, 2014
December 2, 2014
December 2, 2014
December 17, 2014
December 30, 2014
BASF to Invest in New Superabsorbent Technology
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, December 01, 2014)—Ludwigshafen based BASF recently announced its major investment plan in superabsorbent technology, which is worth about US$625 million.
According to BASF, over the period of next three years, it will establish droplet polymerization capability in its plants world over so that it can maintain its leadership position in superabsorbent polymers.
BASF will launch innovative superabsorbent polymer trademarked as SAVIVATM which is scheduled to be launched at the end of 2016.
SAVIVATM has new liquid distribution system that makes it highly superabsorbent. According to BASF, this product has been tested in laboratories, with tested customers giving positive feedback. Currently BASF markets HySorb® superabsorbent polymers.
The upgradation of existing plants to manufacture SAVIVATM will begin in Europe and will be subsequently followed in BASF’s manufacturing plants in Asia and America.
According to BASF, its production capacity for superabsorbent polymers is 590,000 metric tons annually.
Indian Government Sets Minimum Price For Cotton
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, December 02, 2014)—Today, Government of India announced the minimum support price (MSP) for Kapas (seed cotton) for the current season (October 2014-September 2015).
According to Government of India release, the minimum support price for Shankar (S-6) grown in Gujarat for quintal (100 Kilograms) will be Rupees 4,000 (US$65.57). MSPs for the other varieties such as Bunny (grown in Andhra Pradesh) will be Rupees 4,050 (US$66.39), Bunny (grown in Maharashtra) will be Rupees 4,050 (US$66.39), H-4/H-6 (grown in Maharashtra) will be Rupees 3,950 (US$64.75), and J34 (grown in North Zone of India) will be Rupees 3,950 (US$64.75).
Government of India has fixed MSPs, as the cotton prices in the international market are running lower than the price during the same period in the last year due to estimated lower demand by China and increased supply.
The Cotton Corporation of India will procure cotton at the MSP level from 341 centers distributed in 11 cotton-growing states. Currently, the market prices of cotton in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra are below the MSP levels.
Recently, Mumbai based Cotton Association of India has estimated the crop for the current crop season (2014-2015) to be 40.55 million bales of 170 kilograms each.
Indian Cotton Crop Estimated to be 40.2 Million Bales
by: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Bengaluru, India, December 11, 2014)-- Latest crop estimate by Mumbai based Cotton Association of India (CAI) for the new crop year (2014-15) is 40.2 million bales (170 Kgs each).
The new crop year estimate is slightly lower than last year's production estimate of 40.7 million bales.
Gujarat state retains its number one position with a production estimate of 12.2 million bales, which is slightly less than last year's estimate of 12.9 million bales.
The three leading cotton producing states are Guajarat, Maharashtra and the newly formed state, Telengana.
Latest cotton production estimate by the Government of India for the new year is 40 million bales. According to CAI, the available surplus for the 2014-15 year will be 16.8 million bales.
One Indian cotton bale weighs 170 Kgs each.
Indian Spinning Industry in a Confused State
By; Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Aruppukottai, India, December 17, 2014)
The current decline in cotton and crude oil prices has created some confusion in the Indian spinning industry.
Mr. S. Velmurugan, General Manager of Aruppukottai based Jayalakshmi Textiles in speaking face-to-face with
the scribe pointed out the uncertainly in the spinning sector in India due to the recent volatility in cotton prices.
According to Mr. Velmurugan, the decline in cotton prices may lead to decline in yarn prices, which will lead to
severe pressure on the spinning sector.
The cost of manufacturing increases due to hike in the power cost in the State of Tamilnadu, India. It will be
difficult for the spinning sector to sustain at lower yarn prices. Additionally, the decline in crude oil price will also
lead to lowering of synthetic fiber prices. This may again aggravate the uncertain situation.
Mr. Velmurugan expressed that it is important to stabilize the cotton price and safeguard the interests of the state
holders in the industry such as farmers and the manufacturers. Jayalakshmi Textiles is a leader in fine count yarns
in India with a capacity of 65,000 ring spindles.
Currently, Sankar-6 cotton trades at Rupees 33,200 per candy (356 Kilograms).
Golden Fiber Gets Face Lift
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Mumbai, India, December 30, 2014)--Indian Government is working towards increasing the productivity of jute fiber to enhance the jute industry.
According to media reports, Dipakar Mahato, Deputy Jute Commissioner of India delivered the message recently in a Jute Convention organized by the Indian Chamber of Commerce held in Kolkata.
According to Dipankar Mahato, as reported in The Telegraph newspaper, the productivity per hectare can be increased from 2 tons to 3 tons. This will enable to diversity the application of jute in areas such as geotextiiles. More importantly, this can help in reducing the cost of jute bags by 25% making it available at Rs. 30 from the current price of Rs. 40. This move will make jute bags relatively competitive with plastic bags that are priced at lower Rs. 20 per bag.
More recently, former Indian President and noted missile scientist, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam has been encouraging India-Bangladesh collaboration to promote jute products with an aim of reducing the use of plastic materials.
November, 2014
November 17, 2014
November 21, 2014
World Largest Fiber Reinforced Panel Unveiled
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, November 17, 2014)—Gypwall, world’s largest glass fiber reinforced gypsum wall was unveiled recently by Ananth Kumar, India’s Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Gypwall is manufactured by FBRL, a Government of India enterprise. Gypwall is 124 mm thick and is water proof.
According to Government of India pressnote, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras has constructed a two storied building using the Gypwall and the construction was completed in 32 days. These panels consume only 50% of energy compared to conventional product and have low CO2 emissions.
FBRL has dispatched about 400,000 feet of prefabricated fiber reinforced Gypwall. FBRL is manufacturing 12 mts X 3 mts sized glass fiber reinforced panels making them the world’s largest prefabricated panels.
Biomimetic Adhesive Tested
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, November 21, 2014)—Biomimetic adhesive inspired by gekco toes was tested recently at Stanford University.
According to Stanford, Elliot Hawkes a mechanical engineering graduate student working under Professor Mark Cutkosky is a part of the team that is developing reusable adhesive which is based on gecko toes’ ability to form strong bonds with surfaces and at the same time release with minimum effort.
The team at Stanford developed gecko inspired synthetic adhesives that can share large loads evenly. The team’s work has created the adhesive, which is sufficient enough to allow a person to climb a glass wall. According to Hawkes, when this adhesive system was tested, “it’s pretty exhilarating to find that one does not slip of from the smooth glass .”
The gekco pad has a number of adhesive tiles and each tile has saw tooth polymer structures that are 100 microns in length and whose width is equal to the width of human hair. By releasing the load on and off, the gekco pads get their adhesive mechanism.
According to Professor Cutkosky, his group is working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to apply these gekco pads to the robotic arms of spacecraft. The current version of gecko pads can support up to 200 pounds.
The research work has been published recently in the Journal of Royal Society Interface.
October, 2014
October 7, 2014
October 17, 2014
October 21, 2014
October 29, 2014
From: Anil [mailto:anilbjoshi@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2014 7:07 AM
To: Ramkumar, S
Subject: New contact numbers of A B Joshi, former textile commissioner
Dear Dr Sheshadri Ram Kumar,
Hope this finds you in best of health. I have been keeping abreast with your initiatives at Texas Tech Univ through your e bulletins. Such good work there !
On completion of tenure as Textile Commissioner at Mumbai I moved to Delhi first as Additional Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child Development and on further promotion now as Member of Postal Services Board. My new address etc. are as below:
Office:
Anil B Joshi
Member (Technology),
Postal Services Board, Department of Posts, Room 215, Dak Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110001
Residence:
D 10, Tower 9, New Motibag,
New Delhi 110023
Phone 011 23096078 (o), 09643772010 (M).
Hope to keep in touch. Warm Regards,
Anil Joshi
Former Textile Commissioner
7th October 2014.
China Not a Potential Threat to India in Technical Textiles
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Mumbai, India October 17, 2014)—Enhancing the market size and the use of technical textiles in India occupied the center stage of discussion in the Techtextil India symposium.
The two day Techtextil India symposium held at The Lalit culminated today in Mumbai. The event attracted people from wide array of technical textiles sector from India, Germany and the United States.
A panel of distinguished speakers, which included Hendrik van Delden of Gherzi van Delden GmbH, Utkarsh Trivedi of Neo Corp International, V. Jaigopal of Madura Coats, Sanjay Thapliyal of Century Enka and this scribe, Seshadri Ramkumar tackled the important subject of boosting the nascent techtex sector in India.
The outcome of three questions posed by the moderator Mr. van Delden proved beneficial for the Indian technical textiles sector. Apart from export, India should focus on growing the semi durable, hygiene and medical markets, look into news ways of utilizing its fiber resources such as novel high performance blends were the suggested solutions to grow the industry.
The panelists agreed that the labor cost advantage that China enjoyed has eroded. As long as India could be flexible and nimble enough to meet the requirements of its customers, it can compete with China. China, the center of bulk production is no more the preferred sole destination for foreign buyers and hence considering it as a threat is not relevant in the current scenario.
Based on the discussions, according to this scribe, there is optimism with the Indian textile community to diversify into technical textiles. India should focus on value-added textile products.
Smart Fabrics Sector Offers Vast Scope
by: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Bangalore, India, October 21, 2014)---Smart fabrics market is worth 1.6 billion USD, according to IFAI estimates.
Jeff Rasmussen, Market Research Manager at IFAI, USA in speaking recently at the IFAI's Advanced Textile Expo in Minneapolis stated that the annual growth rate of smart fabrics sector worldwide is 18 percent. The market size worldwide for this sector in 2013 was 1.37 billion USD and is projected to be 1.6 billion USD in 2014.
In the United States, safety and protective textiles sector is valued at 4.8 billion USD and is estimated to grow at 6 percent per annum.
Developing nations such as India are promoting investments in technical textiles to increase their Textiles and Clothing sector's value.
Maryland Provides Seed Grants for Protective Gear Development for Ebola Healthcare Workers
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, Texas, USA, October 29, 2014)—Johns Hopkins University and the nonprofit global health organization Jhpiego recently hosted Ebola Design Challenge to harness JHU’s brain power the develop improved protective gears for health care practitioners who work in the Ebola zone in West Africa.
According to Ann LoLordo of Jhpiego, four Products were selected for funding provided by the State of Maryland’s BioMaryland Center to design and develop effective protective gear prototypes.
As stated in the JHU’s HUB, the four projects deal with: 1) Cooling of personal protective equipment; 2) Rapid and safe removal of personal protective equipment; 3) Non-personal protective equipment patient isolation units and 4) Low-cost and easy to use protective gear for those who take care of Ebola patients.
The aim of the program is to utilize the seed money to attract commercial partners to take the products developed to the market place.
Jhpiego and JHU’s Center for Biomedical Innovation & Design organized the timely design challenge.
September, 2014
September 5, 2014
September 12, 2014
September 19, 2014
September 22, 2014
September 28, 2014
September 30, 2014
Science News for Students
Link: https://student.societyforscience.org/article/soaking-oil-spills-with-cotton
Soaking up oil spills — with cotton
This low-grade natural material may become a super picker-upper for petroleum
BY KATHIANN KOWALSKI
8:40AM, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014
Texas Tech researchers show how well raw cotton (right) absorbs and holds oil (left).
Crude oil is still washing ashore more than four years after the BP Deepwater Horizon accident spilled more than 200 million gallons of this petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico. Fisheries, wildlife and ecosystems could suffer for decades. Now help for cleaning up such disasters comes from a crop people have grown for thousands of years: cotton. But this material is a lot different from the fabric in your favorite tee shirt.
To work well on oil spills, the substance used to pick up the mess — a sorbent — should sop up oil but not water. Cotton in its natural form has a waxy coating. As such, it will “absorb oil and repel water,” explains Seshadri Ramkumar. He’s a materials scientist at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Just throwing a huge wad of cotton onto a spill isn’t enough, however. Cotton soaks up oil best when it can use three processes at once. In the first — adsorption — oil clings to the surface of the cotton fibers. The fibers may also absorb oil, bringing it inside the fibers. (That’s the same process by which plant roots take up water from the soil.)
Finally, cotton can soak up oil by letting it flow into channel-like spaces that form between its fibers. This last process is known as capillary action. It’s the process by which blood flows into a narrow tube when a nurse pricks your finger for a sample. The tiny spaces between cotton fibers can act like those blood tubes. But in natural cotton, oil can’t get far because the fibers are tangled.
The Deepwater Horizon well spilled more than 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. This aerial photo of oil floating on the water surface was taken roughly three weeks after the spill began.
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
To untangle them, the researchers card — or comb — the cotton. A carding machine has a cylinder with rows and rows of tiny prongs. The machine pulls the fibers straight so that they all go in the same direction. “It’s just like you’re combing your hair,” explains Vinitkumar Singh. A graduate student at Texas Tech, he also worked on this project.
The researchers stacked up layer after layer of carded cotton. “Everything is in the same direction,” Ramkumar explains. Together, these layers make a batting. It’s similar to the batting used to fill the inside of a quilt. But instead of being stitched or pressed tightly down, the batting for cleaning up oil must stay loose.
Friction between the layers makes them cling loosely together. “It is not a very strong bond,” says Singh. That looseness creates lots of channels into which oil can flow and collect.
When combined, the three sopping processes let cotton soak up oil quite well. And low-grade cotton that’s not mature works about 7 percent better than high-quality mature cotton. The reason: Immature cotton has more wax. Thus, it repels water better. Those young fibers also are finer. That gives them a relatively bigger surface area for adsorption and to form channels for capillary action.
In lab tests, the low-grade cotton batting absorbed 50 times its weight in oil. That’s better than what many plastic materials do. And unlike plastics, cotton decomposes naturally when it can’t be used any more. Ramkumar and his colleagues at Texas Tech and Cotton Incorporated in Cary, N.C., reported their findings in the July 30 Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.
Texas Tech researchers take batting made from raw cotton (top) and lay it atop spilled oil floating on water. When they remove it again (bottom), the oil has left the water and now clings to the batting.
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
Other advantages — and questions
“Cotton is also easy to remove once it’s done its job,” Ramkumar toldScience News for Students. Oil-soaked batting will float on water. That’s because it has a lower specific density than water. With less mass than the same volume of water, this oil helps keep the cotton batting afloat.
Using low-grade cotton for oil clean-ups also could bring farmers more money when crops don’t mature due to drought or other problems. Roughly one-fifth of the cotton grown in Texas, for instance, falls into the low-grade category, Ramkumar says. It usually sells for less money because immature cotton has less cellulose. Fabric mills that make clothing don’t want it because this kind of cotton doesn’t handle dyes well. But what makes a poor cotton for clothing may prove a superior type for oil clean-ups.
The novel structure of the batting might help it sop up oil better, says Paul Sawhney. He’s a textile scientist with the U.S. Agricultural Research Service in New Orleans, La.
But as a cleanup tool, what also will matter is how the batting holds up, Sawhney notes. “Once the oil is in there, you’re talking about 50 times more weight,” he points out. The batting needs to hold that liquid in. And the batting should stay intact when it’s moved and eventually lifted up for removal.
Field tests can explore different ways to ensure that. Lightly needlepunching or stitching the batting’s layers together might help, Sawhney says. Encasing the batting in an expandable web is another idea.
But that’s how science works. Each advance suggests more questions to explore.
Sadly, spills happen. Indeed, hundreds of gallons of motor oil and hydraulic fluid spilled into the Grand River in Michigan earlier this year. A ship collision spilled oil into the Mississippi River last month. And some 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Ohio River from a power plant near Cincinnati. Accidents can be limited — but never completely prevented. That’s why having cleanup tools at hand is important — especially simple, inexpensive and high-performing options, such as raw-cotton batting might offer.
Google Funds 3D Scan Clothing Research
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, September 12, 2014)–A Cornell University professor will develop a method for 3D scanning of textile materials such as jeans and other soft objects like shoes.
Stephen Marschner, professor of computer science at Cornell University has been funded by Google to have 3D scanning of clothing that will fit against the body of a specific person.
Accordingly to a press release from Cornell, the project funded by Google will involve static scan of soft objects along with dynamic scan of the object in its full shape. The research will start with simple objects such as shoe and a cloth pouch and will eventually move into clothing.
According to Marschner, the 3D scanning system which can acquire realistic model of garments on a large scale can potentially change the online marketing of clothing.
Next Generation Space Suit
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, September 19, 2014)–Muscle coil like stretchable garments made with the help of shape memory alloys may be the space suits for next generation astronauts.
Cambridge-USA based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are a step closer to develop active “second-skin” space suits. According to MIT, Dava Newman a Professor of Aeronautics and her collaborators have developed active spring like coils made from shape memory alloys (SMA) that can be used as compression garments that find applications in space suits.
The SMA based skin tight space suits overcome the major drawback in earlier versions of pressurized suits. These SMA materials contract when heated and recover back when cooled. These suits are not dependent on pressurized gas and can be activated with mechanical and electrical pulses. This makes the suit light in weight and would give more freedom for astronauts to move in the outer space during planetary exploration. By plugging into power supply of the space craft, the SMA coils contract when heated with the help of electrical power giving second-skin like atmosphere resulting in light weight skin tight suits. By applying slight mechanical pressure, the compressed suits relax.
The SMA coil design was conceived by Bradley Holschuh, a post-doctoral fellow in Newman’s lab at MIT. According to Holschuh, this design can be used in developing athletic wears and military uniforms. The research at MIT was funded by NASA and MIT Portugal program.
Asia Should Stimulate Cotton Consumption
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, September 22, 2014)–Asian countries, particularly China and India should boost their cotton consumption.
Mr. Jose Sette, executive director of Washington, DC based International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) speaking today in Mumbai at the 8th Asian Textile Conference stated that although increasing cotton yield per hectare is important in India, China and India should focus on increasing its per capita cotton consumption.
Mr. Sette stated cotton consumption in Asia is below developed economies. The consumption trend does not match up with the growth in the income levels in these countries. Enhancing cotton consumption should be the major focus of the cotton sector.
Currently the per capita consumption of cotton in Pakistan is six kilograms, while it is less than two kilograms in India. According to Mr. Sette, if China and India’s consumption matches with that of Pakistan, there will be an additional cotton consumption of at least 12 million tons.
Touching on the hot issue of cotton pricing, Sette stated that high cotton prices are unsustainable if cotton has to be competitive.
The annual growth in cotton consumption is currently at a minuscule rate of 1% per annum and this should be grown at a faster rate, while coffee’s CAGR is about two percentage.
Modi Promotes Make in India Scheme in New York
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, September 28, 2014)–Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi in his maiden visit to United States as the Prime Minister of India touted his government’s ambitious plan of “Make in India.”
Make in India will support and grow the textile industry and world trade between India and other countries. Good governance and low cost of manufacturing are the keys to attract investments in India, said Modi.
Speaking today in New York’s Madison Square Garden to an audience of about 20,000 people, Prime Minister Modi informed that India’s three main advantages such as its vibrant democracy, demographic dividend and demand for goods will make India a preferred destination for manufacturing and trade.
Dressed in a designer clothing of pyjama and orange kurta, Prime Minister Modi enthralled the audience and kept them alive throughout his one hour and eighteen minutes extemporaneous speech.
Speaking without notes in Hindi, Mr. Modi charmed the gathering with his humor interludes such as, “India once known for its snake charming is now known for its mouse charming,” (IT expertise).
The central message of Prime Minister’s speech was his development agenda supported by science and technology and involving people movement.
Certainly, India with a population of 1.25 billion provides ample opportunities for people in manufacturing sectors such as textiles, service and business sectors.
Graphene Alternative Discovered
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, September 30, 2014)–The two dimensional wonder material graphene is getting a competitor.
Recently a group of researchers from the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom have reported a new method to develop an alternative material to graphene.
Southampton University’s Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) scientists have developed molybdenum di-sulphide (MoS2) which is claimed to have many properties similar to graphene. Molybdenum di-sulphide is made using combination of molybdenum and sulphur and has extraordinary electrical conductivity and mechanical strength. These materials are known as transition metal di-chalcogenides (TMDCs).
A striking difference between these new material and graphene is that TMDCs can emit light so that they can find application in light emitting devices. According to Dr. Kevin Huang of ORC, they have perfected the technology so that large area ultra-thin films can be developed. This development provides opportunities for these new materials in nanoelectronic and optoelectronic applications.
This new development has appeared in the Journal Nanoscale. UK based Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) funded the development.
August, 2014
August 14, 2014
August 20, 2014
August 22, 2014
August 26, 2014
August 29, 2014
Indian Cotton Production to Reach 40 Million Bales
by: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Coimbatore, India, August 14, 2014)---Indian cotton crop to reach 40 million bales (170 kg each) in the new season beginning in October 2014.
Speaking in the just concluded Indian Cotton Federation (ICF) conference in Coimbatore, India, Mr. S. Dhinakaran, Immediate Past Chairman of the The Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA) said India will have good crop this coming season starting this October. Although hopes are high for the crop to pass the 40 million bales mark, it sure that the crop will be 37 million bales at least.
Price volatility is a major concern for spinners in India. Several associations are pleading the State run Cotton Corporation of India to ensure supply through out the year at a stable rate. Mr. K. Thirunavukarasu, President of the The South India Spinners' Association (SISPA) said in the ICF meet that earlier cotton price were season dependent and rate changes were expected at only 4 times in a season. Now, with the advent of technology, the price fluctuations have become a heart breaking event on a daily basis.
With good hopes for the US cotton this year, world's cotton crop will be in bounty this year.
India to be the World Leader in Cotton Production
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, August 20, 2014)–According to recent estimates by Cotton Association of India (CAI) India’s cotton production for the crop year 2014-15 (October to September) will be 6.74 million metric tons.
CAI predicts that the production estimates for India by ICAC and USDA will be revised upward from their current estimates of 6.04 and 6.31 million metric tons respectively. Furthermore, according to CAI, India’s 2014-15 crop will be substantially higher than its current conservative estimate provided the weather continues to be favorable.
ICAC’s production estimate for China for 2014-15 is 6.22 million metric tons, while USDA estimates it to be 6.42 million metric tons. These figures enable India to become the leader in cotton production for 2014-15 crop year.
Dhiren Sheth, President of CAI stated in a recent release that “it is due to the concerted efforts of all those connected with cotton in India, importantly the farmers, the country is set to achieve this milestone.”
Chinese Cotton Delegation visits Texas High Plains
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, August 22, 2014)– A team of cotton industry people led by Professor Changhai Yi of Wuhan Textile University, China visited Lubbock today to explore the cotton industry in the High Plains of Texas.
Professor Yi, the Director of Technology at Wuhan Textile University led a team of people involving academics and industry people to gain firsthand knowledge on cotton breeding and applied cotton research. Wuhan Textile University is the only textile university in the world and has 35,000 students making it the largest textile university of its kind in the world.
The team visited Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Lubbock and toured the laboratory of Professor Jane Dever. Dr. Dever gave the tour of her experimental plot and explained to the Chinese delegation her latest research involving next generation cotton with more length uniformity and maturity. The Chinese delegation was impressed with the greenhouse facilities and the shorter cotton plants in the High Plains as compared with those that are in Chinese fields.
The team visited Texas Tech’s (TTU) Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory to see the development of nonwoven cotton products for oil spill and other advanced applications. After observing firsthand the teaching and research infrastructure facilities at Texas Tech University Professor Yi commented “the resources at American research universities are impressive.”
The delegation was hosted by the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at TTU
Reliance Forays into Nonwoven Manufacture
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, August 26, 2014)–Reliance Industries of India, the world’s largest producer of polyester fiber is venturing into needlepunch nonwoven manufacturing.
According to a reliable source, Reliance Industries is installing two needlepunching lines to develop products that will cater to the automotive sector. The total capacity of the two lines will be 2000 metric tons per annum. The lines will have the capability to produce fabrics ranging from 150 to 1000 GSM.
The nonwoven facility will produce calendared and finished needlepunched fabrics that would be supplied to a Tier I manufacturer. It is hoped that the lines will be commissioned in Ahmedabad, India by October this year.
Researchers conduct cotton study
McKenzi Morris
Staff Writer
In July, two Texas Tech researchers released their paper on the study of low-grade cotton and its ability to absorb oil.
Seshadri Ramkumar, professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, and Vinitkumar Singh, a doctoral candidate in the same department, led the research project, which started in the summer of 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Ramkumar said.
“Every year there are numerous oil spills happening,” Singh said. “However, the available technologies to clean up these oil spills are not very good. Currently, the solvents used in the market are made up of plastic, which is not environmentally friendly. There was a need to discover environmentally sustainable oil solvents, which not only clean up the oil spills, but does not add a contaminant to the environment.”
Low-grade, unprocessed cotton can absorb up to 50 grams, much more than a commercial absorbents, according to the research paper.
“What we do at Texas Tech is to look into cotton further,” Ramkumar said. “We want to increase the value, we want to increase productivity, we want to find new uses for cotton that impact human health and human life so that cotton becomes a valuable fiber.”
The paper has received international recognition in countries such as India and England, Ramkumar said.
“As a university professor it’s very pleasing to see your student’s research having some kind of impact,” Ramkumar said.
Singh said he is pleased with this work because it contributes not only to his field, but also to society.
He believes local farmers are his main supporters, he said, because of the way he is furthering the use of cotton.
“Local farmers around Lubbock are the main supporters for my research,” Singh said. “In Lubbock you get a high percent of low-grade cotton, so I’m very glad to say my research will help those farmers get a high value for those low-grade products, using this cotton.”
The fineness and maturity of the oil fibers were among things tested for absorption, according to the paper.
“The hardest aspect was that you need special techniques to see the materials inside of the cotton to check the absorption,” Singh said.
Ramkumar said further research should be done on the subject because they only scratched the surface, and the product needs to be more convenient for the users.
The next step in their research is to test the cotton on an industrial scale and see what to do with the cotton after the oil spill, Singh said.
“We want to appeal more to oil companies, so the product needs to be further refined,” Ramkumar said. “The cost of the final product would be reduced for the immediate consumption of the product.”
July, 2014
July 3, 2014
July 11, 2014
July 31, 2014
Indian Railways to Consider Nonwoven Linens
By Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Bengaluru, India, July 3, 2014)—Indian railways will initiate trial runs of nonwoven beds to enhance the comfort of passengers.
As part of pro-growth and consumer satisfaction agenda, the newly formed Indian government led by Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will bring several new initiates in the Indian railways. In order to increase the comfort of passengers, the railways will start doing trial runs of nonwoven bed items in Bengaluru Rajdhani express. According to media reports, the initial trials will use nonwoven polyester items. Based on the feedback, the pilot scheme will be implemented in other high speed Rajdhani rail networks.
Indian railways is a leading railroad network in the world and the use of nonwovens will enhance the market of such items in India.
New Indian Budget Promotes Textile Clusters
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Bengaluru, India, July 11, 2014)—The maiden budget presented by the new Indian government promotes new textile clusters.
The Indian government led by Honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi presented its first budget in the Indian parliament yesterday. In the budget presented by the Finance Minister, there is a proposal with an outlay of two billion rupees (US$ 34 million) to set-up eight new textile clusters. Handloom sector also gets additional push and support.
Garment industry will get a boost with the enhancement of duty free entitlement from 3% to 5% for import of certain items used in the making of garments, based on the value of exports of garments made from them.
Additionally, the efficiency of handling and transporting import and export cargo will be improved as textile exports contribute about 11% of India’s total exports.
According to Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Textiles with independent charge, “the budget recognizes the core strengths of the textile sector with a strong human emphasis.”
Texas Tech Researchers Discover Low-Grade Nonwoven Cotton
Picks Up 50 Times Own Weight of Oil
Nonwoven cotton could become the new picker-upper for oil spills.
Texas Tech University researchers recently discovered that low-grade cotton made into an absorbent nonwoven mat can collect up to 50 times its own weight in oil.
The results strengthen the use of cotton as a natural sorbent for oil, said Seshadri Ramkumar, professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology at Texas Tech who led the research. The results were published in the American Chemical Society’s journal Industry & Engineering Chemistry Research.
Ramkumar is a creator of Fibertect®, a nonwoven decontamination wipe developed by researchers at Texas Tech capable of cleaning chemical and biological agents. Vinitkumar Singh, a doctoral candidate working under Ramkumar, performed the experiments in this study. This multidisciplinary project involved scientists from Cotton Incorporated and Texas Tech’s Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Toxicology.
“With the 2010 crude oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which resulted in the major spill of about 4.9 million barrels of oil, it became apparent that we needed new clean-up technologies that did not add stress to the environment,” Ramkumar said. “This incident triggered our interest in developing environmentally sustainable materials for environmental remediation.”
In the four-year project, scientists tried to create a fundamental understanding of the effect of fiber structure and basic characteristics of cotton on oil sorption capacity of unprocessed raw cotton. The work also examined the basic mechanisms behind oil sorption by nonwoven cotton webs.
“We believe nonwoven cotton webs as an oil sorbent have tremendous potential for application in real-time oil spill scenarios along with environmental sustainability and commercial acceptability,” Ramkumar said. “In this study, we have used low-grade cotton as well as mature cotton, and it was observed that low-grade cotton performs better than regular mature cotton in the oil sorption capacity. Nonwoven cotton batts consisting of immature and finer cotton fibers showed 7 percent higher oil sorption capacity than cotton batts developed using mature and coarser fibers. Cotton batts could be used to clean up oil spills on land as well as any oil-water system.”
Ramkumar and his researchers are working with Texas Tech’s Office of Technology Commercialization to take this new technology into commercial space within a span of 12 months. Recently, there have been some active interests to evaluate our product for further consideration, he said.
“Our research shows cotton as a high-performance fiber that can be deployed to clean up toxic oil spills,” Ramkumar said. “More importantly, the oil sorption by environmentally friendly and natural sorbents like aligned nonwoven cotton made from raw unprocessed cotton and correlation with its characteristics, such as cotton quality, fineness and maturity, are not reported at all to our best knowledge.”
June, 2014
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India Comes Second in Global Textile Exports
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, June 3, 2014)–India’s current textile export in the international scenario is US$ 40.2 billion.
The total global exports in the world trade is worth US$ 772 billion. India contributes 5.2% to the global textile trade.
India has surpassed countries such as Bangladesh, Italy and Germany coming second only to China in textile exports.
While the global textile industry’s growth is about 4.7%, India has registered 23% growth rate which is significantly higher than China’s growth rate of 11.4 percent.
India’s textile growth has been predominantly due to the growth in its apparel and clothing sectors which collectively has 43% share in India’s textile industry. According to a statement from India’s Press Information Bureau, Mr. Virender Uppal, Chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council stated, “the government policy of diversification of market and product base has helped us and we ventured into the newer markets, which paid huge dividends.”
Increase in labor costs, noncompliance and safety issues in Bangladesh, recent increase in risks taking aptitude by Indian entrepreneurs and government supportive schemes are enabling India to be a reliable sourcing destination. However, competitive pricing, meeting delivery schedules, better quality and government schemes are necessary towards further enhancing India’s export share, stated Mr. Uppal.
The statistics were recently released by UN Comtrade.
High Plains of Texas Expected to Plant 4.1 Million Acres of Cotton
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, June 6, 2014)–The recent rains in the High Plains of Texas is positive for cotton enabling good acreage of planting. According to Shawn Wade, Director of Policy Analysis and Research, Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., in Lubbock, Texas, the region between 1N and 1S of High Plains is expected to plant about 4.1 million acres of cotton. Comparing last year’s acreage of 3.7 million in this region, the rains will help enhancing this number by about 10 percent.
In terms of rainfall, although the first 20 days of May has been bleak in High Plains of Texas, recent rains have ranged anywhere from one-hundredth of an inch to 8.5 inches. “We are set up for good situation for cotton due to recent rain, warm temperature and lack of wind”, stated Jason Woodward, a Texas Tech Plant Pathologist who holds a joint appointment with Texas AgriLife Extension, in a recent meeting at Plains Cotton Growers in Lubbock.
In recent years, number of irrigated acres has been declining and majority of cotton grown in High Plains has been dry land. This necessitates the need for rain and good weather. It is hoped by June 10th, cotton would be completely planted in the High Plains of Texas. High Plains of Texas is the largest cotton growing region in the United States.
Cotton Cooperative Sells its Textile Division
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, June 9, 2014)–Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (PCCA) has sold its textile and apparel division.
On June 6th Lubbock, Texas based PCCA announced the sale of its textile and apparel division to American Textile Holdings (AmTex), LLC.
AmTex has assumed charge of American Cotton Growers denim mill in Littlefield, TX and cut and sew operation Denimatrix S. A. in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
According to Wally Darneille, PCCA President & CEO, the sale of textile and apparel division will enable PCCA to refocus its efforts on core businesses such as cotton marketing, warehousing and software services for members and customers.
AmTex has been created by Monomoy Capital Partners and Kingsmoor, LLC.
According to Robert Fowler, the new CEO of AmTex, the recent purchase will provide customers unsurpassed quality and proximity in denim manufacturing, which is currently migrating from Asia to the Americas.
With the sale of textiles and apparel division, PCCA returns to its founding core business of cotton marketing, when the cooperative was founded some sixty years ago in Lubbock, Texas.
Indian Textile Exports to Reach 50 Billion US Dollars
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Chennai, India, June 25, 2014)–Textile exports from India this financial year ending in March 2015 to reach US $50 billion.
According to media reports in India, Mr. Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State for Textiles, Government of India gave this projection, while inaugurating a garment fair organized by Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI). Indian textile ministry will support the establishment of 25 to 30 textile parks to boost the production.
According to CMAI president, Mr. Rahul Mehta, textile sector is expected to grow by 12 to 15% in the next five years.
May, 2014
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Future of Hydroentangled Apparel Fabrics
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, May 01, 2014)– Woven-like nonwoven hydroentangled apparel fabrics are a reality. However, it will take time to penetrate into apparel sector.
Dr. Paul Sawhney, an industry veteran of many decades specializing in natural fiber processing and currently a senior research scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture laboratory in New Orleans showcased his latest developments on hydroentangled apparel fabrics at the TAPPI 2014 Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, held this week.
His laboratory has developed dyed hydroentangled fabrics from pre-cleaned cotton which were able to pick-up uniform dye. In speaking to this scribe, Dr. Sawhney briefed that launderability and durability are not an issue. However, getting the feel or hand similar to finished woven fabrics is still a major challenge for hydroentangled fabrics to penetrate into the apparel sector. Various process variations such as using patterned finishing rolls and chemical treatments can be tried to develop hydroentangled fabrics with good hand, said Dr. Sawhney.
Consumer Nanofiber Products A Decade Away
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, May 01, 2014)– Although nanofiber research and development have progressed tremendously in the past two decades, commercial products that appeal to consumers are a decade away.
In his speech this week at the 2014 TAPPI Conference in Nashville, tracing his journey from a chemist to a successful entrepreneur, Dr. Jayesh Doshi of eSpin Technologies, Chattanooga, TN, highlighted the major advantages of nanofiber products in filters ranging from HVAC filters to ChemBio defense products.
Dr. Jayesh Doshi was the first graduate student in the early 1990s in the United States to work on the electrospinning of nanofibers and rejuvenated the interest in this technology for developing nanofibers. Today, his company eSpin Technologies develops a myriad of products that involve wipes, filters, to name a few. In an answer to a question from this scribe, Dr. Doshi stated, “in ten years, we may walk into a retail shop and see products with nanofibers.” Dr. Doshi stated cost is the driver in pushing nanofibers into consumer markets and hopefully within a decade, this may be a reality. According to him, residential air filters with nanofibers will be well accepted before products such as tissue scaffolds.
Dr. Doshi pointed out that the use of nanofibers in filters would result in improving air quality by 40%, lowering energy costs by 8% and there can be a reduction in CO2 by 6 percent.
Medical Nonwovens Market to Grow at Five Percent Rate
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, May 27, 2014)–Single-use medical nonwovens market, has rebound from saturation level and is expected to grow at about 5 percent.
Dave Rousse, President of the United States based Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry-INDA, in speaking recently in a webinar organized by the Rodman Media Corp., said that due to the Affordable Care Act, Center for Disease Control and Prevention advisories and also payment qualification criteria imposed by private insurers, the disposable nonwoven market is expected to grow at 5% rate. This growth figure is more than the earlier expected growth rate of 2 percentage.
According to Rousse, medical nonwovens in the United States has a share of 9% in the total nonwovens market. Allied product such as absorbent hygiene has 21% share, wipes has 17% share and filtration has 11% share. The Affordable Care Act emphasizes the shift from quantity to quality, which will aid the growth of disposable nonwovens.
Nonwoven products such as underpads, adult incontinent products, face masks, sterile wraps and packages and health care related wipes will be in demand, which will push the sector towards growth trajectory, said Mr. Rousse.
In ending his presentation, Mr. Rousse stated that nonwoven industry should innovate, enhance the value of the overall package of the nonwoven products and should better communicate with stakeholders.
This webinar was sponsored by ANDRITZ Nonwoven and RKW-Group.
Challenges for Nonwoven Materials
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, May 30, 2014)–Three big challenges were highlighted by Dr. Bryan Haynes, Director, Global Enterprise Research and Engineering, Global Nonwovens, Kimberly-Clark for effective utilization of nonwovens in the medical and consumer product sectors.
Dr. Bryan Haynes in delivering his keynote talk at the recent NET Innovation in Nonwovens Conference (NETInc) of TAPPI held in Nashville emphasized the importance of market differentiation; raw material cost and scalability. These major issues have to be taken into consideration by the nonwovens medical and consumer products industry.
Bryan Haynes said by differentiation in product design, developing composites for new functions and creating novel materials, new opportunities will evolve for the nonwoven industry.
Investment in new process technology that could develop new nonwoven products should be the way forward. Although incremental development is good, emphasis should be placed on new and disruptive technologies, said Haynes. Sustainability and recycling should also be taken into consideration. Finally, Haynes commented on the importance of taking laboratory products to commercial reality.
Partnering to develop disruptive technologies should be an important mantra for the nonwovens industry. The keynote session was chaired by Uday Raval, Chairman of NET Division of TAPPI.
April, 2014
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Environmentally Benign Single Layer Breathable Nanowebs Developed
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, April 20, 2014)– Single layer breathable nanowebs were developed using green electrospinning process.
A team of interdisciplinary researchers at Texas Tech University involving fiber science, chemistry and toxicology have developed a homopolymer single layer porous nanoweb for bioengineering applications. The process involved water soluble poly (vinyl alcohol) and resulted in the development of standalone nanofiber webs. The process was devoid of any organic solvents and used heat cross-linking to obtain a stronger single layer nanoweb that can be handled for subsequent processes and treatments.
The aim of the relatively environmentally friendly process was to avoid the use of cross-linking agents and functionalizing chemicals to obtain a stronger nanoweb.
Heat cross-linked single layer nanowebs were good enough for handling and testing of their tensile and water transport properties. The nanowebs were approximately 250 nm in diameter.
Nanowebs developed that are devoid of organic solvent residues can find a myriad of applications such as cell and tissue culture scaffolds, protective clothing liners, and air filters.
This work was recently published in the Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Bulletproof Vests from Stem Cells
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, April 22, 2014)–A unique property of stem cells that are human master cells has been identified that may lead to wide range of applications such as bulletproof vests and super-absorbent materials.
A team of scientists from the University of Cambridge in England have spotted the property known as auxeticity, which helps in serving as fantastic shock absorbing materials. This auxeticity property results in shrinking when squeezed and expansion when stretched, which is opposite to what is experienced in materials such as elastic tapes that get thinner when pulled.
In a paper published on April 20th in the journal Nature Materials, the interdisciplinary team from Cambridge report that this property is rare in natural materials and features the unique auxeticity phenomenon in the nuclei of embryonic stem cells. According to the authors, these auxeticity materials are highly ordered and can find applications in super absorbent materials such as ballistic shields.
Although it will be a longtime to see human body derived materials to be used in ballistic shield and other advanced materials, this research throws some new information on the biomimetic approach that can be followed by material scientists in developing value-added functional materials.
March, 2014
March 5
Baby Wipes can Lead to Hand Dermatitis
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, March 5, 2014)– A preservative that is commonly used in baby wet wipes can lead to contact dermatitis.
Recently, a team of three dermatologists from Skin & Cancer Foundation, Inc. from Melbourne, Australia has reported that methylisothiazolinone, a preservative used in moist wipes could lead to hand dermatitis.
In a recently published letter in the Medical Journal of Australia, the researchers state that the most common source of the preservative that causes contact dermatitis is disposable wet wipes that are commonly used in baby care. Although its effect on baby skin cannot be diagnosed accurately, the authors report that hand dermatitis problem in parents can be attributed to the use of baby wipes.
According to the authors, other sources are make-up removal wipes, shampoos, sunscreens, deodorants, etc.
February, 2014
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International Team Develops Longer Cotton Fiber
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 2, 2014)—An international team involving researchers from the United States and Uzbekistan has developed longer and stronger cotton fiber.
The team used RNA interference (RNAi) technique to knock-down one particular gene and the method enabled longer fiber. The results have been published in a recent edition of Nature Communications.
According to Associate Professor Alan Pepper of Texas A&M University, a co-author of the study, they used a cross between long fiber plant and a short fiber plant and then used RNAi to interfere with a particular phytochrome gene.
According to the researchers, stronger and longer fiber will result in at least $100 improvement in income per acre.
The team involved scientists from Texas A&M, USDA Laboratory at Mississippi State University and Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences. According to the information available at the US Patent Office, the team has filed for a US Patent.
Industrial Hemp Research to be a Reality
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 4, 2014)–Growing industrial help for research purposes will be legal in some states of the United States soon.
Today, the U.S. Senate passed the Farm Bill approved initially by the U.S. House of Representatives. After three years of discussion, the U.S. Congress voted to send the H.R. 2642 Farm Bill to be enacted into law by President Barack Obama.
The massive 949 pages bill calls for spending of $ 956.4 billion over ten years and has an important provision for legalizing industrial hemp for research purposes in some states of the United States. Tucked in this massive bill the two page provision on the legalization of industrial hemp research is expected to open-up new markets for hemp in industrial and textile sectors.
The provision states that growing industrial hemp for research purposes will be allowed in the states that permit the growth under its laws and only institutes of higher education and State Departments of Agriculture in those states will be allowed to do research on industrial hemp. It should be emphasized that, according to the provision, the industrial hemp should not have delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of more than 0.3 percent of its dry weight.
The legitimacy will enable researchers in those states which will allow growing of industrial hemp for research purposes to develop new products that can cater into new markets such as automotive textiles, industrial wipes, etc.
The bill is expected to receive President Obama’s nod soon.
Self-powered Wearable Textiles for Advanced Health Monitoring
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 06, 2014)– Textile batteries that can detect bodily fluids and generate power using them may be a reality.
Peter Lillehoj, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI has received major funding from the United States National Science Foundation for carrying out research in this area.
According to Professor Lillehoj, the textile battery that will be developed will be able to carry out biomolecular detections. The battery will sense bodily fluids such as urine and sweat and these fluids will generate power to operate them.
According to information from National Science Foundation, so far wearable textiles have focused on measuring physiological parameters such as heart rate and the new textile batteries will be able to analyze bodily fluids for transforming health care.
Next Generation 3D Printing
by: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 8, 2014)--Researchers at Texas Tech University, USA are effectively utilizing nano and microwave technologies to enhance 3D printing.
In a presentation made to a spellbound audience of about 300, at the first ever TEDx event at Texas Tech, Brandon Sweeny a doctoral student of Chemical Engineering at Texas Tech University presented an innovative approach to overcome a major drawback with using 3D printing for developing high strength materials.
Sweeny and his colleagues are using nano sheath-core precursor in 3D printing to develop stronger 3D printed materials. Upon microwaving, the nano sheath heats us quickly giving more interfacial strength. Sweeny and his team have developed 3D bucky balls that are stronger. The researchers have filed a provisional patent for their technology.
The first ever TEDx event was organized today by Dr. Ronald Banister, anesthesiology professor at TTU Medical School in collaboration with Texas Tech University and had a full day of innovative and inspirational talks.
India has Developed Over 250 Cotton Varieties
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 11, 2014)–Ongoing efforts by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has resulted in more than 200 cotton varieties including hybrids that can suit to the requirements of varied climatic conditions of India.
Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur and the All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project of the ICAR are developing new production technologies for cotton with focus on basic and applied cotton research.
According to Indian Minister Tariq Anwar, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Government of India apart from the aforementioned projects, Indian government is implementing Mini Mission-II of Technology Mission on Cotton in 13 cotton growing states since 2001. This program has played an important role in increasing the cotton yield in India.
High-tech Wipe
by: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 14, 2014)--Animated video features multifaceted high-end nonwoven wipe.
Today, Washington-DC area based Fist Line Technology unveiled a video that showcases the features and applications of FiberTect decontamination wipe.
The three and half minute video delineates the advantages of dry decontamination against wet technologies. FiberTect wipe comes in different forms such as wipes, pads, mitts and perforated rolls.
The video ends with an effective message, which emphasizes the protective capability of the wipe by stating that the only thing, the wipe cannot wipe is the smile on our face.
The video can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/LeVvrIBlyiE
Textile Industry Follows Labor Economics
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, February 21, 2014)–Textile industry follows labor cost, material price and currency situations very closely.
Recently, Nobel Laureate Vernon L. Smith (2002 co-recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences), while lecturing on the housing bubbles and recessions since 1929 to a standing room only crowd at Texas Tech University commented on the movement of textile industry from North to South in the United States and then now across the oceans.
Professor Smith noted, while he was a student at Harvard University in 1950s, the textile and garment industry in New York and Massachusetts moved to Alabama and other southern states in the United States. This model has become the norm in the labor intensive textile industry, which has now shifted to Southeast Asia.
In an answer to a question from this scribe on China’s economy, Noble Laureate said, although he has not followed China that closely, in his many visits to Beijing and Shanghai he has observed many multistoried building infrastructures, which is a sign of liberalization and the growth of export.
It looks like the same dynamic situation, which caused the movement of the United States’ textile industry in 1950s is happening in developing economies such as China and India, where the labor cost issue is surfacing and making it hard to compete with other low wage developing nations such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, to name a few.
Comment by William C Smith, Principal at Industrial Textile Associates, Greenville, SC
Don't know if you read my comments on Innovation in Textiles where I said several of the Asian countries have set up operations in the US. The most recent was Keer Group out of Shanghai, investing $218 million to build a textile plant in South Carolina employing 500.The cost in China, for instance, has risen to the point it is cheaper to spin yarn in the US than in China, and many other developing countries. Several Indian companies are doing the same with employment over 300. But one major factor as well is the trade agreements that let them set up shop here and ship components to Caribbean nations and get favorable consideration, something they cannot get at home. The textile industry, as we once knew it, will never come back in terms of employment and mills, etc. But other forms of textiles, such as nonwovens and carbon fibers/fabrics, things we didn't have much of 30+ years ago, have blossoms (Toray has announced a new carbon fiber plant in SC to product carbon fiber for areas such as aircraft and automotives, wind energy, and the like. It is a different "textile" industry today. And technical textiles are relatively strong.
January, 2014
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Indian Textile Industry Set to Grow
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Coimbatore, India, January 7, 2014)—Indian textile and apparel sector is expected to reach a market size of US$220 billion by 2020 with an annual growth rate of 11 percentage.
Inaugurating this year’s Textile and Clothing Association’s activities at Avinalishilingam Deemed University in Coimbatore, Dr. K. Selvaraju, Secretary General of The Southern India Mills’ Association said China is losing its strength as a low cost manufacturing country, which will enable India to be a textile power house.
According to Dr. Selvaraju, China pays three times the Indian wages and its power cost is 10% higher than India. India has to concentrate on value-addition and focus on processing and other vale-enhancement sectors.
India’s current textile and apparel market size is US$90 billion.
Indian Cotton Arrivals Higher than Last Year
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 15, 2014)—Today, Mumbai based The Cotton Association of India (CAI) estimated that the cotton crop for this season ending in September 2014 to be 37.6 million bales (170 kg each).
Dhiren Sheth, President of CAI, stated that one third of the crop for this season has arrived and the crop arrivals as of December 31, 2013 was 11.97 million bales (170 kg each), which is higher than the crop arrivals during December of 2012.
The total cotton supply during this season will be 43.4 million bales as against 42.6 million bales during last year (2012-2013).
CAI noted that the total crop consumption by the organized mill sector to be 26 million bales (170 kg each). There is a significant increase in the production this year and is estimated to be 37.6 million bales. This is roughly 2 million bales higher than last year’s production.
US Cotton Industry Optimistic for 2014
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 17, 2014)– Cotton price may help with the uptick in 2014 cotton acres in the United States.
In today’s meeting at Plains Cotton Growers in Lubbock, TX there was optimism for cotton planting this year.
The decrease in corn acres this year will result in slight uptake in cotton planting nationwide, although corn will be predominantly replaced by soy beans.
Representatives from seed industry such as Monsanto felt that the demand for cotton seed this year is slightly higher than what it was during the same period last year. The main factor that drives the switching back to cotton is the price and the recent positive export numbers.
Steve Verett, Executive Vice President of Lubbock, Texas based Plains Cotton Growers expressed that he is hoping for more favorable weather in the coming year that will result in more harvested acres in relation to planted acres, providing a positive impact on the High Plains cotton industry.
Ginning of last year’s cotton is coming to an end in High Plains of Texas and is hoped to be wrapped-up by next week.
European Consortium to Work on Ecofriendly Carbon Fiber
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 22, 2014)–A group of 13 organizations in Europe have been funded by European Seventh Framework Program to develop sustainable carbon fibers.
The project known as NEWSPEC involves industries, R&D institutes and Universities from Italy, UK,Germany, Ukraine, Greece, Belgium and France.
NEWSPEC group involves fiber and textile institutes, automotive companies, management consultancy and runs for four years and is expected to end by 31st October 2017.
Project NEWSPEC’s objectives involve developing carbon fibers using cost effective polymers such as polyethylene, which can result in 30% cost savings.
A news release from the University of Exeter in the UK, a collaborating partner in the project states that total funding for the project is about ten million euros.
Cotton to Penetrate into Diapers
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 23, 2014)–Cotton soon will be an integral part of diapers.
A collaborative work between Huntsman Textile Effects and TJ Beall Company will create ecofriendly diapers made out of mechanically cleaned greige cotton, which will form the top-sheet of the diaper.
ULTRAPHIL® CO is a latest development that will utilize Huntsman Textile Effects’ ULTRAPHIL® CO technology and TJ Beall’s cleaned greige natural cotton fiber, sold as “True Cotton®.
Greige cotton helps with the required hydrophobicity and chemical treatment effect by Huntsman Textile Effects gives the necessary wicking property needed for functional diapers, according to today’s press release by TJ Beall Company.
Nonwoven hygiene industry sector is a growth industry even in developed economies, while it is forecast to have an exponential growth in developing economies such as BRICS.
Sustainability both in terms of environment and economy is a major driving force for the growth of the nonwovens hygiene market and the development of cotton based diaper is a step forward in the direction.
Cotton Seed Company Contributes Huge Funds to Further R&D and Education
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 23, 2014)–Bayer CropScience announced today in Lubbock a major gift of US$ 19.3 million towards cotton research and other projects in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) at Texas Tech University. This major gift is expected to receive matching funds from the State of Texas through its Texas Research Incentive Program.
Kent Hance, Texas Tech University System Chancellor today said, the total funding from Bayer is the largest ever for Texas Tech University and its overall worth is about US$ 54 million. Hance said,”today is historic and important day for Texas Tech University”.
Michael Galyean, Dean of CASNR highlighted that in addition to today’s gift, Bayer CropScience has already contributed US$ 8 million for research and development projects that look into the quality and functionality of cotton.
Mike Gilbert, Vice President for Global Breeding and Trait Development, Bayer CropScience said that every year
Bayer invests more than US$ one billion for research and development. He also stated that today's contribution to Texas Tech University is an example of Bayer's commitment to research and development.
Bayer CropScience belongs to the Bayer Group and has interests in crop protection, seeds and environmental sciences.
Light-activated Smart Curtains
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 28, 2014)– Battery less smart curtain is the latest development in smart and intelligent textiles.
The new development is led by Associate Professor Ali Javey of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States.
The research team layered carbon nanotubes on polycarbonate membranes which activate in the presence of light. According to the researchers, the nanotubes absorb light instantaneously and convert into heat. The heat gets transferred to the polycarbonate membrane which results in the expansion of the plastic curtain. The researchers claim that such light activated plastic curtains are easy to make and can be activated using low intensity light. This work has been recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
It is becoming clear that multidisciplinary approaches involving different disciplines such as polymer science, electrical engineering, material science and chemistry, to name a few are needed to develop functional and technical textiles.
Biobased Eco-leather Developed
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 30, 2014)–Biomaterials developed from flax, chicken feathers and plant stalks has received high recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Recently, Professor Richard Wool of the University of Delaware in the US received the 2013 Academic Green Chemistry Award from the U.S. EPA.
Professor Wool’s work avoids toxic precursors and inorganic fibers and has resulted in a number of lignin based alternatives for styrene, isocyanate free foam from plant oils, according to the U.S. EPA. His efforts are paving way for bio-alternatives for adhesives and resins used in developing composites.
A collaborative effort between Professor Wool and Professor Huantian Cao of the University of Delaware has resulted in breathable biobased eco-leather.
Smart Clothes for Hip Fractures to have Business Potential
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA
(Lubbock, USA, January 31, 2014)– Intelligent clothing that can protect elderly people from hip fractures due to fall has been identified as having excellent business potential.
The UK based Royal Academy of Engineering has recognized the commercial potential of this technology as part of its Enterprise Fellowships scheme. As part of this scheme, Dr. Daniel Plant, Director of Armourgel Ltd., London, who is the inventor of this technology will receive £ 85,000 to commercialize this technology.
Armourgel technology absorbs energy and stiffens on impact during fall. Additionally, this technology is thinner, flexible and can be incorporated in to every day garments worn by elders.
2014
Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D. • Texas Tech University • Department of Environmental Toxicology
Box 41163 • Lubbock, TX 79409-1163 • 806.885.4567 • s.ramkumar@ttu.edu