Discover this week’s highlighted innovations that are making a difference in the textile industry, along with their distinctive features, curated by Prof. Dr. Tanveer Hussain.
Orange Fiber, a sustainable textile offering benefits to textile manufacturers
Orange Fiber is a sustainable textile made from citrus peels, a byproduct of juice production. It offers a number of benefits for textile manufacturers and fashion brands:
Sustainable: Orange Fiber reduces waste by using citrus peels that would otherwise be thrown away. It also doesn’t require land or water for dedicated yields, making it a more sustainable option than cotton.
Biodegradable and compostable: Unlike synthetic fibers, Orange Fiber breaks down naturally, reducing microplastic pollution in the oceans and landfills. Soft and luxurious: Orange Fiber is known for its soft, silk-like feel, making it ideal for high-end clothing applications. Vitamin-enriched: Orange Fiber fabrics may contain traces of vitamins and antioxidants naturally found in citrus peels.
Unique selling proposition: Using Orange Fiber allows fashion brands to create garments with a unique and sustainable story that can resonate with eco-conscious consumers. Overall, Orange Fiber is a promising new material that can help the textile industry become more sustainable and meet the growing demand for eco-friendly fashion.
Turning CO2 into nanofibres
A research team from the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Columbia University have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon nanofibres with a wide range of unique properties and many potential long-term uses.
The team employs tandem electrochemical and thermochemical reactions running at relatively low temperatures and ambient pressures in a process that could successfully lock carbon away in an applicable solid form to offset or even achieve harmful carbon emissions.
The idea of capturing CO2 or converting it to other materials to combat climate change is familiar, but simply storing CO2 gas can lead to leaks, and many CO2 conversions produce carbon-based chemicals or fuels that are used immediately, which release CO2 back into the atmosphere.
The trick was to break the reaction into stages and to use two different types of catalysts – materials that make it easier for molecules to come together and react. In the first step, the group used a commercially available electrocatalyst of palladium supported on carbon. Then it turned to a heat-activated thermocatalyst made of an iron-cobalt alloy.
New European production of PET BCF yarns
To expand its support for high-end and luxurious automotive interiors, BIG Yarns of the Beaulieu International Group has completed its first industrial production runs of virgin polyester BCF yarns at its plant in Belgium.
There is a growing market in PET for automotive interior applications, with polyester allowing OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to develop products that consider eco-design from the outset by building mono-polymer carpets and flooring that are 100% recyclable at the end of life (EOL). These materials are helping to ensure improved and more sustainable EOL recycling of electric vehicles that are driving the car industry’s future.
The new PET BCF yarns offer high performance for automotive carpets, including abrasion and stain resistance and durability, passing all stringent automotive tests, including the Taber test for abrasion performance, compressibility, and recovery ability, light fastness in automotive and VOCs (fogging). The yarns can be color solution-dyed, have a dTex between 1,300-1,500, 81 filaments, and are ideal for mats with weights of between 400-800gsm, while the yarns for molded carpets have a dTex of 1200, 144 filaments for carpet weights of 380gsm.
