Effect of Anti-Solvent in the Regeneration of Cotton from Cotton/DMSO Solution

Abstract:

Regenerating cellulose (cotton) through anti-solvent precipitation is a promising method for recycling textile waste. The selection of an anti-solvent during the regeneration of cellulose depends on its molecular structure. In this study, dissolved cotton in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was treated with five different anti-solvents for cellulose: sodium hydroxide (NaOH), hydrochloric acid (HCl), calcium chloride (CaCl₂) solution, ethanol, and water. The results show that water is adequate in regenerating cotton by up to 20%. The FTIR study was performed to analyze changes in the chemical structure of regenerated cotton following regeneration with different solvents. The C-H bend peak observed around 800-900 cm-1 confirmed that the main β-glycosidic bonds in cellulose were retained across all samples after the regeneration process. Each anti-solvent altered the cellulose structure by modifying hydrogen bonding through specific rearrangements in the chain packing. This is reflected in the lateral-order index (LOI), which represents the ratio of crystalline to amorphous regions. By comparing the lateral-order index (LOI) A1430/A886 from FTIR peak and UV-vis absorbance, the result confirmed that the ranking of effective regeneration using anti-solvent was H2O > NaOH > CaCl₂, ethanol > HCl.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 175)
• Pages: 189-195
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-B8VlDN
• Online since: May 2026
• Authors: Nur Ummul Waliyyatullah Muhammad Faez Tan, Arbanah Muhammad*, Intan Suhada Azmi, Azmi Roslan, Noor Fitrah Abu Bakar
• Keywords: Anti-Solvent, Cotton, DMSO, Regeneration, Textile Waste

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