Chinese Researchers Successfully Extract Fiber From Seaweed

As modern spin The main source of raw materials, such as cotton, linen, petrochemical, etc fibre More and more constrained by resource and environmental costs, Chinese researchers have successfully extracted fibers from seaweed, spun them into silk threads and woven them into cloth after years of research, opening up a third source of textile fibers in the sea.

After four years of repeated experiments, Xia Yanzhi, deputy director of the cultivation base of the State Key Laboratory of Fiber New Materials and Modern Textiles of Qingdao University, led the research and development personnel to successfully use algae to extract alginate as raw material, use water as solvent, and use special equipment to produce high strength and good performance seaweed fibers, and successfully spin them into cloth.

Xia Yanzhi said that so far, researchers have been able to extract fiber from a variety of algae, including brown algae, agaric protoalgae, carrageenan protoalgae, and even Enteromorpha prolifera, which has accumulated in the coastal waters of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea for many times.

In the laboratory of the cultivation base, the reporter saw seaweed fibers, alginate particles and cloth samples woven from seaweed fibers dyed with various colors. Kong Qingshan, a doctor who participated in the research, said that the production of seaweed fiber has gone through the preliminary and pilot stages, and large-scale production is in the process of preparation.

According to Kong Qingshan's estimation Production technology One ton of light dried kelp can extract 200kg to 250kg of alginate to form 200kg of fiber, and every 100g of alginate fiber can weave a square meter of cloth.

According to this calculation, the cost of seaweed fiber is preliminarily estimated to be 50000 to 70000 yuan per ton. Kong Qingshan said that if the seaweed fiber is blended with cotton, more cloth can be woven, which is cheaper. The cloth made of seaweed fiber is stronger than cotton.

"Nowadays, the limitations of land fiber and synthetic fiber in environmental protection are becoming more and more prominent, and I feel it is very necessary to find a new renewable environment-friendly fiber material." Xia Yanzhi said about the original intention of the development of seaweed fiber.

At present, China consumes about 60 million tons of fiber every year, mainly from natural fibers and regenerated fibers of animals and plants such as cotton, hemp, wool, silk, and synthetic fibers from oil. However, with economic development and population growth, the access to fiber is increasingly restricted by the shortage of land and oil resources.

At the same time, biomass chemical fiber is booming in China. In 2009, China's biomass renewable fiber capacity has reached 1.91 million tons, accounting for 77% of the world's total capacity.

"China is the largest seaweed breeding and processing country in the world, accounting for more than half of the world's output of alginate, which is very conducive to the acquisition and large-scale development and production of seaweed fiber raw materials. At the same time, the production of seaweed fiber raw materials does not occupy oil and land resources," said Xia Yanzhi.

As it is taken from the sea, the seaweed fiber has intrinsic flame retardancy. At the same time, the fiber contains a large number of metal ions, which can effectively shield electromagnetic waves and prevent radiation. Xia Yanzhi said that the advantages of seaweed fiber and its good textile processing performance make it not only suitable for ordinary clothes, but also suitable for making clothes for special purposes, such as fire-fighting clothes, protective clothes, medical clothes, etc.

At present, this research and development technology has been supported by the national "863", the National Development and Reform Commission's textile project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Shandong Province's major achievements transformation and other projects. More than ten invention patents have been applied, and three have been authorized. The achievements have reached the international leading level after being identified by many academicians and well-known experts in China.

It is reported that in order to promote the application of seaweed fiber technology, Qingdao Xiyingmen Group, a household textile enterprise, has invested in the construction of large-scale production lines. At present, the construction of production workshops is nearing completion, and it is expected that large-scale industrial production can be achieved in 2011.