A path to greener fashion: UBC and KPU collaborate on sustainable rayon production

Sustainable rayon development is in production between Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s fashion design program and the University of British Columbia (UBC).

UBC Faculty of Forestry associate professor Feng Jiang and doctoral student Huayu Liu developed a cleaner way to produce rayon, a material that has been traditionally manufactured using the cellulose of wood pulp or cotton.

“My supervisor, professor Jiang, encouraged me to think about whether clothing fibres could be produced in a cleaner way,” Liu says.

Liu says the key difference between current rayon production and the sustainable option is that the former uses large amounts of harsh chemicals. The new method reduces solvent use up to 70 per cent by using microfibrillated cellulose.

With her team, Liu explored microfibrillated cellulose from wood as a more sustainable option.

“The problem is that microfibrillated cellulose alone doesn’t flow well. When we try to push it through a tiny nozzle, the fibres will break or even fall apart,” Liu says.

Microfibrillated cellulose forms when cellulose fibres are mechanically broken down into tiny fibres — most commonly with wood and other plant-based sources.

The turning point in the research came when the team asked a new question — instead of adding more chemicals, what if cellulose could help itself?

“That’s when we realized that adding a small amount of dissolved cellulose could act as a natural glue, helping the material flow better and stay together,” Liu says. “The moment we saw the first long and continuous fibre compound, we knew we had something special.”

While the research team was able to create the compound, Liu says the testing process involved many attempts and a lot of trial and error. She says they conducted several tests to find a combination that consistently produced a stable and continuous fibre.

“We tested different formulations, different working conditions, many parameters, and adjusted the process step by step,” Liu says. “We carefully observed how the fibres behaved during spinning, washing, and finally, collection.”

KPU’s fashion design program has tested small pieces of the rayon, but once larger quantities are available, they will test larger knitting and weaving prototypes.

The partnership between KPU and UBC began six years ago at a conference about 3D printing, where fashion and technology instructor, Stephanie Phillips, met researchers from UBC.

Three years after the conference, Phillips, now a Sherman Jen Research Chair in Next-Generation Design, reached out to work on a project. Her focus is on biodegradable functional materials in fashion and exploring how enhanced natural materials that remain recyclable can be used.

“We created a three-year-long series of projects, and then we took that to one of their collaborators … and they funded a three-year-long collaboration in creating new textiles,” Phillips says. 

Phillips says it’s important for the university to take on projects like this that promote their action-based identity and B.C.’s collaborative research culture.

“Everybody does the theory of clothing … and that’s just not our nature here. Our nature is to do,” she says.

“With the research work and working with the sustainable biomaterials group, the thought process means that we need to start somewhere new and use the skills we have to develop those further — because we are action-based.”

Phillips adds it’s important for KPU and the province to be leaders in sustainability, especially when it comes to innovation.

“We’re not necessarily wanting to change the entire system, but make the system work better in terms of sustainability.”

Liu hopes the research and testing process will encourage the fashion and textile industry to adopt cleaner, more sustainable methods for producing clothing fibres.

“If more manufacturers use cleaner cellulose fibres, it could definitely reduce the environmental footprint of clothing production,” Liu says. “Here in B.C., we are surrounded by forest and strong sustainability values.”

Phillips hopes in the long term that using sustainable sources will enable the creation of new materials.

“I would like to urge KPU students to get involved in sustainability … and research. There’s a lot of research happening at KPU, and everybody should figure out how to make their little mark,” Phillips says.

“No one person is going to come up with the golden ticket that will make everything better — we all have a little part to play.”