About

Dr. Ericka Ford is an Assistant Professor within the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science and The Nonwovens Institute. Her research and educational activities focus on protective and therapeutic nonwovens, engineering of high performance fibers and textiles, sustainable textile coatings and finishing technologies, and training and development for science and engineering professions. Dr. Ford's background includes a bachelor's degree in Polymer Fiber Engineering from Georgia Tech, a master's degree in Polymer Science from the University of Southern Mississippi, and doctoral research at Georgia Tech investigating gel spinning of carbon nanotube composites for high strength, high modulus fibers. She has also participated in NSF-supported programs and international research experiences. Prior to her current role, she served as a National Research Council postdoctoral awardee in Chemical and Biological Defense at the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. Her work emphasizes the development of environmentally friendly coatings, bio-based resins, and advanced fiber technologies, contributing to the fields of fiber science, nonwovens, and polymer processing.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Organic chemistry
• Materials science
• Nuclear chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Medicine
• Composite material
• Nanotechnology

Selected publications

• Role of Hydrolysis on the Biodegradation of <scp>PLA</scp> Fibers Under Industrial Composting Conditions

  Journal of Applied Polymer Science · 2026-04-28

  article

  ABSTRACT Polylactic acid (PLA) is a bio‐based and renewable polymer increasingly used as a sustainable alternative to polypropylene and polyester in nonwoven applications. Although PLA biodegrades under industrial composting conditions, degradation can be slow, with fibers sometimes remaining intact for extended periods. PLA biodegradation occurs in two stages: (i) hydrolytic cleavage of ester bonds generating low‐molecular‐weight oligomers, followed by (ii) microbial assimilation to carbon dioxide and water. This study investigates how hydrolysis prior to composting influences the biodegradation of melt‐spun PLA fibers representative of spunbond nonwovens. Fibers were composted at 58°C ± 2°C using activated vermiculite following ISO 14855. A subset of fibers was pre‐hydrolyzed for 31 days at 58°C and pH 7 to evaluate the effect of abiotic hydrolysis. Hydrolysis induced significant physicochemical changes in the PLA fibers, including reduction in molecular weight (MW) (~190 kDa to &lt; 10 kDa), bimodal molecular weight distributions indicating chain scission, and increased crystallinity (8.6%–70.9%). Under composting conditions, pre‐hydrolyzed fibers degraded substantially faster and exhibited no lag‐phase compared with untreated fibers. After 57 days, biodegradation reached 77.5% ± 5.8% for pre‐hydrolyzed fibers and 50.5% ± 7.2% for untreated fibers, demonstrating that hydrolysis‐induced MW reduction accelerates PLA biodegradation.

  PublisherDOI

• Cellulose Carbamate Synthesis and Dissolution from Wheat Straw: Influence of Biomass Origin and Inorganic Removal Compared to Softwood Dissolving Pulps

  Research Square · 2025-11-12

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Influence of Biomass Source and Inorganic Content on Cellulose Carbamate Synthesis and Alkali Dissolution Efficiency: Comparing Wheat Straw and Softwood Dissolving Pulps

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Development of Eco-Friendly Soy Protein Fiber: A Comprehensive Critical Review and Prospects

  Fibers · 2024-03-30 · 20 citations

  articleOpen access

  In the first half of the twentieth century, scientific communities worldwide endeavored to diminish dependence on expensive and scarce animal fibers like wool and silk. Their efforts focused on developing regenerated protein fibers, including soy, zein, and casein, to provide comparable benefits to natural protein fibers, such as lustrous appearance, warmth, and a soft feel. The popularity and cost-effectiveness of mass-produced petroleum-based synthetic polymer fibers during World War II diminished interest in developing soy protein fiber. Realizing the ecological degradation caused by fossil fuels and their derived products, a renewed drive exists to explore bio-based waste materials like soy protein. As a fast-growing crop, soy provides abundant byproducts with opportunities for waste valorization. The soybean oil extraction process produces soy protein as a byproduct, which is a highly tunable biopolymer. Various functional groups within the soy protein structure enable it to acquire different valuable properties. This review critically examines scholarly publications addressing soy protein fiber developmental history, soy protein microstructure modification methods, and soy protein fiber spinning technologies. Additionally, we provide our scientific-based views relevant to overcoming the limitations of previous work and share prospects to make soy protein byproducts viable textile fibers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Aquatic biodegradation of poly(β-hydroxybutyrate) in polylactic acid and maleic anhydride blended fibers

  Journal of Polymer Research · 2024-03-18 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Textiles from non-wood feedstocks: Challenges and opportunities of current and emerging fiber spinning technologies

  Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts · 2024-07-10 · 21 citations

  articleOpen access

  As the global population continues growing, the demand for textiles also increases, putting pressure on cotton manufacturers to produce more natural fiber from this already undersupplied resource. Synthetic fibers such as polyester (PET) can be manufactured quickly and cheaply, but these petroleum-based products are detrimental to the environment. With increased efforts to encourage transparency and create a more circular textile economy, other natural alternatives must be considered. This article discusses the existing condition and future possibilities for man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCFs), with an emphasis on using non-woody alternative feedstocks as a starting material. This work focuses on conversion technology suitable for producing textile-grade fibers from non-wood-based dissolving pulp, which may be different in nature from its woody counterpart and therefore behave differently in spinning processes. Derivatization and dissolution methods are detailed, along with spinning techniques and parameters for these processes. Existing research related to the spinning of non-woody-based dissolving pulp is covered, along with suggestions for the most promising feedstock and technology combinations. In addition, an emerging method of conversion, in which textile fibers are spun from a hydrogel made of an undissolved nano/micro-fibrillated fiber suspension, is briefly discussed due to its unique potential. Methods and concepts compiled in this review relate to utilizing alternative feedstocks for future fibers while providing a better understanding of conventional and emerging fiber spinning processes for these fibers.

  PublisherDOI

• Beyond cotton and polyester: An evaluation of emerging feedstocks and conversion methods for the future of fashion industry

  Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts · 2024-01-04 · 41 citations

  articleOpen access

  As the global population grows, the demand for textiles is increasing rapidly. However, this puts immense pressure on manufacturers to produce more fiber. While synthetic fibers can be produced cheaply, they have a negative impact on the environment. On the other hand, fibers from wool, sisal, fique, wood pulp (viscose), and man-made cellulose fibers (MMCFs) from cotton cannot alone meet the growing fiber demand without major stresses on land, water, and existing markets using these materials. With a greater emphasis on transparency and circular economy practices, there is a need to consider natural non-wood alternative sources for MMCFs to supplement other fiber types. However, introducing new feedstocks with different compositions may require different biomass conversion methods. Therefore, based on existing work, this review addresses the technical feasibility of various alternative feedstocks for conversion to textile-grade fibers. First, alternative feedstocks are introduced, and then conventional (dissolving pulp) and emerging (fibrillated cellulose and recycled material) conversion technologies are evaluated to help select the most suitable and promising processes for these emerging alternative sources of cellulose. It is important to note that for alternative feedstocks to be adopted on a meaningful scale, high biomass availability and proximity of conversion facilities are critical factors. In North America, soybean, wheat, rice, sorghum, and sugarcane residues are widely available and most suitable for conventional conversion through various dissolving pulp production methods (pre-hydrolysis kraft, acid sulfite, soda, SO2-ethanol-water, and potassium hydroxide) or by emerging cellulose fibrillation methods. While dissolving pulp conversion is well-established, fibrillated cellulose methods could be beneficial from cost, efficiency, and environmental perspectives. Thus, the authors strongly encourage more work in this growing research area. However, conducting thorough cost and sustainability assessments is important to determine the best feedstock and technology combinations.

  PublisherDOI

• Is sugarcane-based polyethylene a good alternative to fight climate change?

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2023-02-13 · 16 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Organophosphate-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex for Flame Retardancy in Doped Cellulose Acetate Butyrate Melt-Spun Fibers

  Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · 2023-07-11 · 7 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Organophosphates are widely used flame retardants (FR) in everyday applications, and their leaching over time is a gaining concern. In this research, 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) was chosen as a representative organophosphate FR to examine inclusion complex (IC) formation with γ-cyclodextrins (γ-CD) to enhance char formation as well as prevent the unnecessary release of toxic FR chemicals. The addition of ionic salts, sodium chloride (NaCl), and calcium chloride (CaCl2) during the formation increased the yield of IC crystals by up to 50%. However, perfect crystals were formed only when pure IC was formed, devoid of only metal crystals. Continuous melt spinning of cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) is practically very difficult in the presence of incompatible DOPO in the system. The formed IC was compatible with biopolymer CAB due to hydroxyl groups from γ-cyclodextrin at the periphery. CAB/IC fibers were melt-spun alongside reference pure CAB and CAB/CD fibers. CAB was found to form complexation with CD in the absence of DOPO in the cavity, as corroborated by FTIR and tensile properties. Furthermore, the response to flame was noted as compared to reference pure CAB and CAB/CD fibers. CAB/IC was found to have self-extinguishing behavior via the formation of a char layer even at ∼0.8 wt % DOPO fraction in the fiber.

  PublisherDOI

• Aquatic Biodegradation of Poly(β-Hydroxybutyrate) and Polypropylene Blends with Compatibilizer and the Generation of Micro- and Nano-Plastics on Biodegradation

  Journal of Polymers and the Environment · 2023-04-03 · 5 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yaewon Park

  Yonsei University

  21 shared

• Rebecca Hron

  Agricultural Research Service

  12 shared

• SeChin Chang

  Southern Regional Research Center

  12 shared

• Matthew B. Hillyer

  Agricultural Research Service

  12 shared

• Brian Condon

  University of Limerick

  12 shared

• Doug J. Hinchliffe

  Cotton (United States)

  12 shared

• Nicholas Ernst

  12 shared

• Sunghyun Nam

  Southern Regional Research Center

  12 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science

  North Carolina State University

  2018

• M.S., Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science

  North Carolina State University

  2013

• B.S., Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science

  North Carolina State University

  2011

Awards & honors

• 2006 AATCC Herman and Myrtle Student Paper Competition (1st)