Fourier-Transform Imaging of Cotton and Botanical and Field Trash Mixtures

Botanical and field cotton trash comingled with Upland cotton lint can greatly reduce the marketability and quality of cotton. Trash found comingled with cotton lint during harvesting, ginning, and processing is of interest to the textile community. In the current study attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopic imaging was employed as an analytical technique to analyze cotton trash. Some benefits of this technique were its non-destructive nature and lack of required sample preparation. The technique used in this study, specifically ATR-FTIR spectroscopic chemical imaging, allows for three-dimensional spectral and spatial data to be obtained. In the current study, cotton in mixtures with botanical and field trash types have been identified spectrally and spatially using ATR-FTIR imaging. Botanical trash types (trash derived from the cotton plant) were evaluated and identified independently from cotton, even though both contained cellulose. The field trash types were easily identified from cotton due to their differences in chemical composition. This study can complement current cotton qualitative studies by adding spectral and spatial information to sample analysis.