Identification and Quantitative Determination of Virgin and Recycled Cashmere: a Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Abstract

Cashmere plays an important role in luxury fashion due to its characteristics of fineness, warmth, and softness. In the frame of "green economy", many companies have started to produce and market recycled cashmere textiles. Recycled cashmere is derived from postfactory and post-consumer waste. The mechanical action involved in recycling cashmere causes severe damage to the fibers, affecting their morphological and mechanical properties. In order to safeguard the consumers and the companies from possible adulteration, a correct identification of fibers is required. NIR spectroscopy was applied to analyze and distinguish virgin and recycled cashmere fibers. Because no significant differences can be seen in the recorded spectra, the principal component analysis (PCA) combined with the soft independent modeling class analogy (SIMCA) method allows the classification of fibers into two distinct classes, leading to a sure identification of recycled and virgin cashmere. A calibration curve was also performed in order to quantify recycled cashmere fibers in a blend with virgin ones. The interclass distance in the SIMCA method was found to be 249.77, whereas the results from quantitative calibration show a standard error of prediction value of 5.8% w/w (for a mean value of 50% w/w). Microscopy analysis was also carried out to confirm the origin of the recycled cashmere. These preliminary results confirmed that the NIR spectroscopy coupled with chemometric methods might be a useful tool for the rapid screening of recycled cashmere fibers and their raw quantification in a blend.

Approaches to Control and Monitor Protease Levels in Chronic Wounds

“…When the activity is assessed, given that TIMPs have already affected the MMPs' activity, is it still necessary to also determine the TIMPs level? The literature contains some statements about the relationship between proteases and their inhibitors in wound healing, such as the excess of proteases over their inhibitors [91] or the imbalance between proteases and their inhibitors. [92,93] The latter statement may be supported by some studies, such as the one by Vaalamo et al, who found that TIMP-1 mRNA was present in acute wounds but not in chronic wounds, [90] but still more evidence is required to consider the disturbed balance between proteases and their inhibitors and also its involvement in the chronicity of the wounds as a fact.…”

Analytical Methods for the Identification and Quantitative Determination of Wool and Fine Animal Fibers: A Review

“…Even more in detail, NIR spectroscopy was proposed to discriminate among varieties of cashmere material [108] and to distinguish between virgin and recycled cashmere fibers [109]. In conclusion, NIR spectroscopy is a fast and non-destructive analysis that needs long and accurate calibration work, and it is valuable to sectors where a large number of textile samples must be tested, such as quality control in large enterprises and in import/export business.…”

One‐Pot Synthesis of Depolymerizable δ‐Lactone Based Vitrimers

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] However, just like thermoplastic reprocessing, performance deterioration is unavoidable after multiple cycles of reprocessing due to chain scission, degradation, and oxidation. [21][22][23][24] Depolymerizing the vitrimer back to the original feedstocks could be an attractive strategy to enable the "monomer-polymermonomer" closed-loop cycle, but it is challenging to achieve. In some instances, vitrimers have been shown to degrade into oligomers and small molecules.…”