In July, two Texas Tech researchers released their paper on the study of low-grade cotton and its ability to absorb oil. Seshadri Ramkumar, professor in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, and Vinitkumar Singh, a doctoral candidate in the same department, led the research project, which started in the summer of 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Ramkumar said.
¨Every year there are numerous oil spills happening,¨ Singh said. ¨However, the available technologies to clean up these oil spills are not very good. Currently, the solvents used in the market are made up of plastic, which is not environmentally friendly. There was a need to discover environmentally sustainable oil solvents, which not only clean up the oil spills, but does not add a contaminant to the environment.¨
Low-grade, unprocessed cotton can absorb up to 50 grams, much more than a commercial absorbents, according to the research paper. ¨What we do at Texas Tech is to look into cotton further,¨ Ramkumar said. ¨We want to increase the value, we want to increase productivity, we want to find new uses for cotton that impact human health and human life so that cotton becomes a valuable fibre.¨ The paper has received international recognition in countries such as India and England, Ramkumar said.