TEXTILES.ORG
A University of British Columbia (UBC) forestry research team has developed a cleaner, simpler way to produce rayon.
Traditional methods for producing synthetic cellulose fibers involve fully dissolving cellulose using large amounts of chemicals. Associate professor Feng Jiang, Ph.D., and doctoral student Huayu Liu, the lead UBC researchers, instead worked with microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), tiny, hair-like cellulose strands that can be made with mechanical grinding and few chemicals.
MFC doesn’t usually flow well enough to be spun into long, continuous threads, so the researchers added a small amount of softened, dissolved cellulose that acts like a natural glue. The outcome: a strong, continuous thread that can be woven just like conventional textile fibers.
“By dissolving only a portion of it, we can reduce the amount of solvent needed by as much as 70%—and we can recycle all of it,” says Liu.
As this method works with less-processed pulp, it also cuts out several steps that normally involve bleaching or harsh chemical treatment.
The team is exploring opportunities to scale up production and has partnered with professor Stephanie Phillips at the fashion design school at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C., to test knitting and weaving prototypes when larger quantities are available.
The study was published Dec. 1, 2025, in Chem Circularity.
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