Sustainability and the need to find new markets for cotton are priority areas for the global cotton sector. The Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech University is one of a few research centers in the world with a dedicated laboratory focusing on advanced cotton products. The lab has an ongoing project dedicated to the development of lightweight nonwovens using raw cotton to target technical applications. 

Recently, Roger Vaillancourt, Service Manager-North America of Autefa Solutions, worked with researchers at the laboratory to finetune the needlepunching line to develop lightweight nonwovens from raw cotton. The project is being spearheaded by university researchers Mirza Khyum and Faizur Rahman who received valuable technical inputs from Vaillancourt who has 46 years of experience in nonwoven machinery operations and product development.
 
As industries are expected to meet the United Nations’ sustainability goals and create value-added applications for natural fibers, ongoing projects at Texas Tech University’s Nonwovens Laboratory could create sustainable products and find new opportunities for cotton. These projects include the  FiberTect decontamination wipe, which lends itself to using cotton layers depending on the need, as well as developments in the use of raw cotton materials for decontaminating oil spills, which is gaining traction thanks to the university’s pioneering work during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.