Using the power of fibers to clean the problem fibers create...
-Dr. Juan Hinestroza
Furcraea andina, just a fancy word for a plant whose fibers you have likely seen in your neighborhood coffee shop. Commonly known as fique, this plant's strong and durable fibers are often harvested for making woven bags to hold coffee beans. The strength and durability of the fibers make them ideal for holding heavy loads. Fique grows in abundance in the Andes Mountains of Colombia.
Besides a booming coffee industry, Colombia also boasts one of the largest textile industries in Latin America that employs 20% of the country's workforce. That means there are a lot of textile plants with a lot of pollution. Dr. Hinestroza and his colleague Martha L. Chacón-Patiño both hail from the Andes Mountains region in Colombia. The pollution from textile manufacturing plants is a very real issue these two scientists wanted to address. By putting their two heads together they used their backgrounds in different fields of science, chemistry and fiber nanotechnology, to solve a problem close to home. From past research with fiber nanotechnology and chemistry, they turned to the fique plant because of its high cellulsose content and its abundance in the region.
The process requires using ultrasound to inject synthesized oxides into the cellulose cells in fique fiber. When these oxides mix with the polluted water, chemical reactions occur inside these tiny cellulose compartments that causes the dye to degrade. Fique fibers are strong, can withstand acid, have a lot of cellulose, and have I mentioned, the fique plant is everywhere in Colombia! This makes them the perfect material for the job. Or as Dr. Hinestroza so eloquently puts it, with the fique plant, this process uses the power of fibers to clean the problem fiber creates.
Dr. Hinestroza's method doesn't stop with the fique plant, he and his colleagues believe that their method can be used with fibers from plants found in other parts of the world. The plants just need to have the same properties as fique. By utilizing common plants that are abundant in any given region, this method can be much more affordable, and sustainable, a key point since much of the pollution occurs in developing nations.
Fique fibers after being harvested in Colombia.
Fucraea andina, aka, fique -the incredible fiber!