title: Structural analysis of Gossypium hirsutum fibers grown under greenhouse and hydroponic conditions.
abstract: Cotton is the one of the world's most important crops. Like any other crop, cotton growth/development and fiber quality is highly dependent on environmental factors. Increasing global weather instability has been negatively impacting its economy. Cotton is a crop that exerts an intensive pressure over natural resources (land and water) and demands an overuse of pesticides. Thus, the search for alternative cotton culture methods that are pesticide-free (biocotton) and enable customized standard fiber quality should be encouraged. Here we describe a culture of Gossypium hirsutum ("Upland" Cotton) utilizing a greenhouse and hydroponics in which the fibers are morphological similar to conventional cultures and structurally fit into the classical two-phase cellulose I model with 4.19nm crystalline domains surrounded by amorphous regions. These fibers exhibit a single crystalline form of cellulose I-Iß, monoclinic unit cell. Fiber quality bulk analysis shows an improved length, strength, whiteness when compared with soil-based cultures. Finally, we show that our fibers can be spun, used for production of non-woven fabrics and indigo-vat stained demonstrating its potential in industrial and commercial applications.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie - Anorganische Chemie, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II-Chemie, Physik und Mathematik, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Straße 2, Halle 06120, Germany. Electronic address: filipe.natalio@chemie.uni-halle.de.
authors.forename: Filipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Natalio
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 10-14, 55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Muhammad Nawaz
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Tahir
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie - Anorganische Chemie, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II-Chemie, Physik und Mathematik, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Straße 2, Halle 06120, Germany.
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Friedrich
authors.affiliation: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Biozentrum, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: Margret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Köck
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz-Josef-Straße 18, A-8700 Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fritz-Popovski
authors.affiliation: Institut für Physik, Montanuniversität Leoben, Franz-Josef-Straße 18, A-8700 Leoben, Austria.
authors.forename: Oskar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Paris
authors.affiliation: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Biozentrum, Weinbergweg 22, 06120 Halle, Germany; Institut für Chemie - Organische Chemie, Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II-Chemie, Physik und Mathematik, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Kurt-Mothes-Straße 2, Halle 06120, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paschke
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry; D032561:Cotton Fiber / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D003368:Gossypium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000254:growth & development; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D018527:Hydroponics / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Cellulose; Cotton; Culture; Fibers; Hydroponics; Textiles