Rajamangala University of Technology Isan (RMUTI)'s Surin Campus has introduced new products created by the mixture of silk cocoons and rice straw fibre.
The innovative range of products are on exhibit at "Thailand Research Expo 2022", which is jointly organised by the Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Ministry's National Research Council of Thailand and other research networks nationwide. It will feature over 700 products that are still in the stage of research and development by Thai researchers, as well as more than 150 topics in seminars.
RMUTI Surin Campus is joining the event for the first time. Its research team introduced cloth woven by silk cocoons mixed with rice straw fibre, which can add value to waste and reduce the need among farmers to burn dry rice straws after harvesting their grain.
Rattanarekha Atchariyapitak, a lecturer at the university's Industrial Textiles and Fashion Design Department and head of the research team, said back in 2020 her team wanted to add value to community products.
As Surin is known as one of the best places for producing woven silk fabrics, as well as for growing jasmine rice, the research team combined the strong selling points of the province into new products, she said.
The team visited a community in tambon Khewa Sinarin in Khewa Sirarin district and spent about three years working on the new innovation.
The project was funded by the Programme Management Unit on Area Based Development of the Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council.
She said that during the first year, the team used chemicals to soften rice straws before spinning it into yarn but in 2021, the team used bio-fermented liquid made from local citrus fruit. The process took about three months to soften the rice straws into fibre.
In addition, Lakkana Pitak, a lecturer from the university's Agricultural Machinery Engineering Dept, invented a tool to mix rice straw fibre with silk yarn made from leftover silk cocoons. The equipment can speed up the production of yarn as it can churn out one metre a minute.
She said the technique of mixing the rice straw fibre with silk yarn can reduce the cost of producing silk yarn by up to 80%, or about 2,000 baht per kilogramme.
For this year, the team further developed the fabric so it could be turned into commercial products. The mixed woven fabric of silk and rice straw is stronger than pure woven silk, said Ms Rattanarekha.
It can be used to produce many types of products such as clothes, suits, jackets, neckties, face masks, hats, bags and souvenirs.
Thailand Research Expo 2022 kicked off on Sunday and will run until Aug 5 at the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld in Bangkok.