Dyeing technologists may gain useful information about the molecular structure of cotton, as a result of work at the USA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
ARS, in collaboration with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, and the Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble, France, has provided new information about hydrogen bonds that connect the building blocks of cellulose, the main molecule in cotton fibres and most other plant cell walls. The researchers used a neutron beam to study nanocrystals in cotton to make their discoveries.
An ARS note said: “To understand how cellulose changes when it is exposed to enzymes, water or chemical treatments, researchers need to learn more about its hydrogen bonding system.”
ARS said the study, published in the academic journal Biomacromolecules, “brings researchers closer to completely describing the structure of cellulose,” which will “provide a greater understanding of the chemical and physical properties of cotton.”