Lakehead University

Lew Christopher

Md Nur Alam

We have developed an environmentally-friendly new process for producing textile yarns. The process involves chemical modification of cellulose with subsequent dissolution of the chemically modified cellulose with chitosan or other amine group-containing compounds which yields a highly viscous gel. The chemical modification of cellulose employs a known process of periodate oxidation which we have modified to obtain fibers with a low degree of aldehyde groups (&#x2dc;2 mmol/g cellulose) that still remain insoluble in water. After washing, the chemically modified fibers can be cross-linked with chitosan or other amine group-containing compounds to produce the viscous gel. The viscous gel can then be extruded through a syringe nozzle in the form of textile yarns.

Growing community of inventors

Thunder Bay, Canada

Lew Christopher