Could cottonseed oil be a PFAS alternative?

26/08/2025

Researchers at North Carolina State University have investigated cottonseed oil as a possible ‘green’ alternative to formaldehyde and PFAS in fabric finishing. The group, led by Richard Venditti, a professor of forest biomaterials, paper science and engineering, drew on previous research at the university expanding work on inserting epoxy groups into the long carbon chains of cottonseed oil molecules. This epoxidized cottonseed oil, or ECSO, was found to bond chemically with the cellulose fibres in a cotton fabric and with each other, “forming a polymer and making the fabric hydrophobic”. The team also found that the epoxy groups create “oil molecule bridges” between the cellulose fibres, making the fabric resistant to wrinkling.

Taylor Kanipe, a graduate student at North Carolina State University, presented her findings last week at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society. The research project received funding from Cotton Incorporated.

“If we can achieve our goal of changing the properties of the cotton fabric — making it anti-wrinkle, anti-staining and water-resistant — using a water-based process, we’ll have a green process for putting a bio-based material onto cotton as a replacement for formaldehyde- and PFAS-based finishes,” commented Professor Venditti.

Photo by Richard Venditti shows how an untreated cotton fabric absorbs water droplets (top) and cotton fabric treated with a form of cottonseed oil repels water (bottom).

Could cottonseed oil be a PFAS alternative? - sportstextiles: Lea

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Could cottonseed oil be a PFAS alternative?

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