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Empa researcher Simon Annaheim is working to develop a mattress for newborn babies. Image: Empa
11.03.2024

Medical textiles and sensors: Smart protection for delicate skin

Skin injuries caused by prolonged pressure often occur in people who are unable to change their position independently – such as sick newborns in hospitals or elderly people. Thanks to successful partnerships with industry and research, Empa scientists are now launching two smart solutions for pressure sores.

If too much pressure is applied to our skin over a long period of time, it becomes damaged. Populations at high risk of such pressure injuries include people in wheelchairs, newborns in intensive care units and the elderly. The consequences are wounds, infections and pain.

Skin injuries caused by prolonged pressure often occur in people who are unable to change their position independently – such as sick newborns in hospitals or elderly people. Thanks to successful partnerships with industry and research, Empa scientists are now launching two smart solutions for pressure sores.

If too much pressure is applied to our skin over a long period of time, it becomes damaged. Populations at high risk of such pressure injuries include people in wheelchairs, newborns in intensive care units and the elderly. The consequences are wounds, infections and pain.

Treatment is complex and expensive: Healthcare costs of around 300 million Swiss francs are incurred every year. "In addition, existing illnesses can be exacerbated by such pressure injuries," says Empa researcher Simon Annaheim from the Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles laboratory in St. Gallen. According to Annaheim, it would be more sustainable to prevent tissue damage from occurring in the first place. Two current research projects involving Empa researchers are now advancing solutions: A pressure-equalizing mattress for newborns in intensive care units and a textile sensor system for paraplegics and bedridden people are being developed.

Optimally nestled at the start of life
The demands of our skin are completely different depending on age: In adults, the friction of the skin on the lying surface, physical shear forces in the tissue and the lack of breathability of textiles are the main risk factors. In contrast, the skin of newborns receiving intensive care is extremely sensitive per se, and any loss of fluid and heat through the skin can become a problem. "While these particularly vulnerable babies are being nursed back to health, the lying situation should not cause any additional complications," says Annaheim. He thinks conventional mattresses are not appropriate for newborns with very different weights and various illnesses. Annaheim's team is therefore working with researchers from ETH Zurich, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the University Children's Hospital Zurich to find an optimal lying surface for babies' delicate skin. This mattress should be able to adapt individually to the body in order to help children with a difficult start in life.

In order to do this, the researchers first determined the pressure conditions in the various regions of the newborn's body. "Our pressure sensors showed that the head, shoulders and lower spine are the areas with the greatest risk of pressure sores," says Annaheim. These findings were incorporated into the development of a special kind of air-filled mattress: With the help of pressure sensors and a microprocessor, its three chambers can be filled precisely via an electronic pump so that the pressure in the respective areas is minimized. An infrared laser process developed at Empa made it possible to produce the mattress from a flexible, multi-layered polymer membrane that is gentle on the skin and has no irritating seams.

After a multi-stage development process in the laboratory, the first small patients were allowed to lie on the prototype mattress. The effect was immediately noticeable when the researchers filled the mattress with air to varying degrees depending on the individual needs of the babies: Compared to a conventional foam mattress, the prototype reduced the pressure on the vulnerable parts of the body by up to 40 percent.

Following this successful pilot study, the prototype is now being optimized in the Empa labs. Simon Annaheim and doctoral student Tino Jucker will soon be starting a larger-scale study with the new mattress with the Department of Intensive Care Medicine & Neonatology at University Children's Hospital Zurich.

Intelligent sensors prevent injuries
In another project, Empa researchers are working on preventing so-called pressure ulcer tissue damage in adults. This involves converting the risk factors of pressure and circulatory disorders into helpful warning signals.

If you lie in the same position for a long time, pressure and circulatory problems lead to an undersupply of oxygen to the tissue. While the lack of oxygen triggers a reflex to move in healthy people, this neurological feedback loop can be disrupted in people with paraplegia or coma patients, for example. Here, smart sensors can help to provide early warning of the risk of tissue damage.

In the ProTex project, a team of researchers from Empa, the University of Bern, the OST University of Applied Sciences and Bischoff Textil AG in St. Gallen has developed a sensor system made of smart textiles with associated data analysis in real time. "The skin-compatible textile sensors contain two different functional polymer fibers," says Luciano Boesel from Empa's Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles laboratory in St. Gallen. In addition to pressure-sensitive fibers, the researchers integrated light-conducting polymer fibers (POFs), which are used to measure oxygen. "As soon as the oxygen content in the skin drops, the highly sensitive sensor system signals an increasing risk of tissue damage," explains Boesel. The data is then transmitted directly to the patient or to the nursing staff. This means, for instance, that a lying person can be repositioned in good time before the tissue is damaged.

Patented technology
The technology behind this also includes a novel microfluidic wet spinning process developed at Empa for the production of POFs. It allows precise control of the polymer components in the micrometer range and smoother, more environmentally friendly processing of the fibers. The microfluidic process is one of three patents that have emerged from the ProTex project to date.

Another product is a breathable textile sensor that is worn directly on the skin. The spin-off Sensawear in Bern, which emerged from the project in 2023, is currently pushing ahead with the market launch. Empa researcher Boesel is also convinced: "The findings and technologies from ProTex will enable further applications in the field of wearable sensor technology and smart clothing in the future."

Source:

Dr. Andrea Six, Empa

Feathers from waterfowl (c) Daunen- und Federnverbände Mainz
05.03.2024

Adhesives: Feathers replace petroleum

Adhesives are almost always based on fossil raw materials such as petroleum. Researchers at Fraunhofer have recently developed a process that allows to utilize keratin for this purpose. This highly versatile protein compound can be found, for instance, in chicken feathers. Not only can it be used to manufacture a host of different adhesives for a variety of applications, but the processes and end products are also sustainable and follow the basic principles underlying a bioinspired circular economy. The project, developed together with Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, addresses a billion-dollar market.

Adhesives are almost always based on fossil raw materials such as petroleum. Researchers at Fraunhofer have recently developed a process that allows to utilize keratin for this purpose. This highly versatile protein compound can be found, for instance, in chicken feathers. Not only can it be used to manufacture a host of different adhesives for a variety of applications, but the processes and end products are also sustainable and follow the basic principles underlying a bioinspired circular economy. The project, developed together with Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, addresses a billion-dollar market.

Adhesives are found nearly everywhere: in sports shoes, smartphones, floor coverings, furniture, textiles or packaging. Even auto windshields are glued into place using adhesives. Experts recognize more than 1,000 different types of adhesives. These can bond almost every imaginable material to another. Adhesives weigh very little and so lend themselves to lightweight design. Surfaces bonded with adhesive do not warp because, unlike with screw fastenings, the load is distributed evenly. Adhesives do not rust, and seal out moisture. Surfaces bonded with adhesive are also less susceptible to vibration. Added to which, adhesives are inexpensive and relatively easy to work with.

Feathers from poultry meat production
Traditionally, adhesives have almost always been made from fossil raw materials such as petroleum. The Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB has recently adopted a different approach. Researchers there have been using feathers as a base material instead of petroleum. Feathers are a by-product of poultry meat production. They are destroyed or mixed into animal feed. But feathers are far too valuable to go to waste because they contain the structural protein keratin. This biopolymer is found in animals and makes up talons, claws, hooves or feathers. Its fibrous structure is extremely strong.

Why keratin is perfect for manufacturing adhesives
Keratin is a biodegradable and thus eco-friendly material whose structure has specific properties that make it particularly suitable for the manufacture of adhesives. Keratin's polymer structure, i.e., its very long-chain molecules, as well as its ability to undergo cross-linking reactions predestine it for the manufacture of various adhesives. “The properties required for adhesives are to some extent already inherent in the base material and only need to be unlocked, modified and activated,” explains project manager Dr. Michael Richter.

Platform chemical and specialty adhesives
Over the past three years, Fraunhofer IGB has been working with Henkel AG & Co. KGaA on the KERAbond project: “Specialty chemicals from customized functional keratin proteins” — Kera being short for keratin, combined with the English word bond. Henkel is a global market leader in the adhesives sector.

The partners in the project have recently developed and refined a new process. In the first stage, feathers received from the slaughterhouse are sterilized, washed and mechanically shredded. Next, an enzyme process splits the long-chain biopolymers or protein chains into short-chain polymers by means of hydrolysis.

The output product is a platform chemical that can serve as a base material for further development of specially formulated adhesives. “We use the process      and the platform chemical as a “toolbox” to integrate bio-enhanced properties into the end product,” says Richter. This means parameters can be specified for the target special adhesive such as curing time, elasticity, thermal properties or strength. Also, it’s not just adhesives that are easy to manufacture but also related substances such as hardeners, coatings or primers.

In the next stage, the Fraunhofer team set about converting the feathers on a large scale. Ramping up the process fell to the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP in Leuna. The aim was to prove that the keratin-based platform chemicals can also be manufactured cost-efficiently on an industrial scale. This involved processing several kilograms of chicken feathers, with the material produced being used for promising initial material trials at Fraunhofer IGB and Henkel.

Foundations of a bioinspired economy
This bioinspired process is of particular significance for the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Biotechnology is in fact one of the main fields of research for the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: “We draw our inspiration from functionality or properties that already exist in nature or in natural raw materials. And we attempt to translate these properties into products through innovative manufacturing methods. This generates a bioinspired cycle for valuable raw materials, Richter explains.

The project carries some economic weight. According to Statista, around one million tons of adhesives were manufactured in Germany alone in 2019. Total value is around 1.87 billion euros.

A patent application has been filed for the new process and an article published in a scientific journal. Two PhD students who have conducted extensive research on the project at Henkel and Fraunhofer are expected to complete their theses in the first quarter of 2024. This new keratin-based technology will allow a host of platform chemicals to be produced in a sustainable, bioinspired way.

The KERAbond project has been funded and supported over the past three years by Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR) in Gülzow on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) under the Renewable Resources Funding funding program (grant number 22014218).

Source:

Fraunhofer IBG

(c) RMIT University
26.02.2024

Cooling down with Nanodiamonds

Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster.

The study found fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2-3 degrees Celsius during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton. They do this by drawing out body heat and releasing it from the fabric – a result of the incredible thermal conductivity of nanodiamonds.

Published in Polymers for Advanced Technologies, project lead and Senior Lecturer, Dr Shadi Houshyar, said there was a big opportunity to use these insights to create new textiles for sportswear and even personal protective clothing, such as underlayers to keep fire fighters cool.

The study also found nanodiamonds increased the UV protection of cotton, making it ideal for outdoor summer clothing.

Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster.

The study found fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2-3 degrees Celsius during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton. They do this by drawing out body heat and releasing it from the fabric – a result of the incredible thermal conductivity of nanodiamonds.

Published in Polymers for Advanced Technologies, project lead and Senior Lecturer, Dr Shadi Houshyar, said there was a big opportunity to use these insights to create new textiles for sportswear and even personal protective clothing, such as underlayers to keep fire fighters cool.

The study also found nanodiamonds increased the UV protection of cotton, making it ideal for outdoor summer clothing.

“While 2 or 3 degrees may not seem like much of a change, it does make a difference in comfort and health impacts over extended periods and in practical terms, could be the difference between keeping your air conditioner off or turning it on,” Houshyar said. “There’s also potential to explore how nanodiamonds can be used to protect buildings from overheating, which can lead to environmental benefits.”

The use of this fabric in clothing was projected to lead to a 20-30% energy saving due to lower use of air conditioning.

Based in the Centre for Materials Innovation and Future Fashion (CMIFF), the research team is made up of RMIT engineers and textile researchers who have strong expertise in developing next-generation smart textiles, as well as working with industry to develop realistic solutions.

Contrary to popular belief, nanodiamonds are not the same as the diamonds that adorn jewellery, said Houshyar. “They’re actually cheap to make — cheaper than graphene oxide and other types of carbon materials,” she said. “While they have a carbon lattice structure, they are much smaller in size. They’re also easy to make using methods like detonation or from waste materials.”

How it works
Cotton material was first coated with an adhesive, then electrospun with a polymer solution made from nanodiamonds, polyurethane and solvent.

This process creates a web of nanofibres on the cotton fibres, which are then cured to bond the two.

Lead researcher and research assistant, Dr Aisha Rehman, said the coating with nanodiamonds was deliberately applied to only one side of the fabric to restrict heat in the atmosphere from transferring back to the body.  

“The side of the fabric with the nanodiamond coating is what touches the skin. The nanodiamonds then transfer heat from the body into the air,” said Rehman, who worked on the study as part of her PhD. “Because nanodiamonds are such good thermal conductors, it does it faster than untreated fabric.”

Nanodiamonds were chosen for this study because of their strong thermal conductivity properties, said Rehman. Often used in IT, nanodiamonds can also help improve thermal properties of liquids and gels, as well as increase corrosive resistance in metals.

“Nanodiamonds are also biocompatible, so they’re safe for the human body. Therefore, it has great potential not just in textiles, but also in the biomedical field,” Rehman said.

While the research was still preliminary, Houshyar said this method of coating nanofibres onto textiles had strong commercial potential.
 
“This electrospinning approach is straightforward and can significantly reduce the variety of manufacturing steps compared to previously tested methods, which feature lengthy processes and wastage of nanodiamonds,” Houshyar said.

Further research will study the durability of the nanofibres, especially during the washing process.

Source:

Shu Shu Zheng, RMIT University

Researchers led by Bernd Nowack have investigated the release of nanoparticles during the washing of polyester textiles. Image: Empa Image: Empa
14.02.2024

Release of oligomers from polyester textiles

When nanoplastics are not what they seem ... Textiles made of synthetic fibers release micro- and nanoplastics during washing. Empa researchers have now been able to show: Some of the supposed nanoplastics do not actually consist of plastic particles, but of water-insoluble oligomers. The effects they have on humans and the environment are not yet well-understood.

Plastic household items and clothing made of synthetic fibers release microplastics: particles less than five millimetres in size that can enter the environment unnoticed. A small proportion of these particles are so small that they are measured in nanometers. Such nanoplastics are the subject of intensive research, as nanoplastic particles can be absorbed into the human body due to their small size – but, as of today, little is known about their potential toxicity.

When nanoplastics are not what they seem ... Textiles made of synthetic fibers release micro- and nanoplastics during washing. Empa researchers have now been able to show: Some of the supposed nanoplastics do not actually consist of plastic particles, but of water-insoluble oligomers. The effects they have on humans and the environment are not yet well-understood.

Plastic household items and clothing made of synthetic fibers release microplastics: particles less than five millimetres in size that can enter the environment unnoticed. A small proportion of these particles are so small that they are measured in nanometers. Such nanoplastics are the subject of intensive research, as nanoplastic particles can be absorbed into the human body due to their small size – but, as of today, little is known about their potential toxicity.

Empa researchers from Bernd Nowack's group in the Technology and Society laboratory have now joined forces with colleagues from China to take a closer look at nanoparticles released from textiles. Tong Yang, first author of the study, carried out the investigations during his doctorate at Empa. In earlier studies, Empa researchers were already able to demonstrate that both micro- and nanoplastics are released when polyester is washed. A detailed examination of the released nanoparticles released has now shown that not everything that appears to be nanoplastic at first glance actually is nanoplastic.

To a considerable extent, the released particles were in fact not nanoplastics, but clumps of so-called oligomers, i.e. small to medium-sized molecules that represent an intermediate stage between the long-chained polymers and their individual building blocks, the monomers. These molecules are even smaller than nanoplastic particles, and hardly anything is known about their toxicity either. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Water.

For the study, the researchers examined twelve different polyester fabrics, including microfiber, satin and jersey. The fabric samples were washed up to four times and the nanoparticles released in the process were analyzed and characterized. Not an easy task, says Bernd Nowack. "Plastic, especially nanoplastics, is everywhere, including on our devices and utensils," says the scientist. "When measuring nanoplastics, we have to take this 'background noise' into account."

Large proportion of soluble particles
The researchers used an ethanol bath to distinguish nanoplastics from clumps of oligomers. Plastic pieces, no matter how small, do not dissolve in ethanol, but aggregations of oligomers do. The result: Around a third to almost 90 percent of the nanoparticles released during washing could be dissolved in ethanol. "This allowed us to show that not everything that looks like nanoplastics at first glance is in fact nanoplastics," says Nowack.

It is not yet clear whether the release of so-called nanoparticulate oligomers during the washing of textiles has negative effects on humans and the environment. "With other plastics, studies have already shown that nanoparticulate oligomers are more toxic than nanoplastics," says Nowack. "This is an indication that this should be investigated more closely." However, the researchers were able to establish that the nature of the textile and the cutting method – scissors or laser – have no major influence on the quantity of particles released.

The mechanism of release has not been clarified yet either – neither for nanoplastics nor for the oligomer particles. The good news is that the amount of particles released decreases significantly with repeated washes. It is conceivable that the oligomer particles are created during the manufacturing of the textile or split off from the fibers through chemical processes during storage. Further studies are also required in this area.

Nowack and his team are focusing on larger particles for the time being: In their next project, they want to investigate which fibers are released during washing of textiles made from renewable raw materials and whether these could be harmful to the environment and health. "Semi-synthetic textiles such as viscose or lyocell are being touted as a replacement for polyester," says Nowack. "But we don't yet know whether they are really better when it comes to releasing fibers."

Source:

Empa

Bacteria, eating Plastic and producing Multipurpose Spider Silk Photo: Kareni, Pixabay
05.02.2024

Bacteria, eating Plastic and producing Multipurpose Spider Silk

For the first time, researchers have used bacteria to “upcycle” waste polyethylene: Move over Spider-Man: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a strain of bacteria that can turn plastic waste into a biodegradable spider silk with multiple uses.

Their new study marks the first time scientists have used bacteria to transform polyethylene plastic — the kind used in many single-use items — into a high-value protein product.

That product, which the researchers call “bio-inspired spider silk” because of its similarity to the silk spiders use to spin their webs, has applications in textiles, cosmetics, and even medicine.

For the first time, researchers have used bacteria to “upcycle” waste polyethylene: Move over Spider-Man: Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a strain of bacteria that can turn plastic waste into a biodegradable spider silk with multiple uses.

Their new study marks the first time scientists have used bacteria to transform polyethylene plastic — the kind used in many single-use items — into a high-value protein product.

That product, which the researchers call “bio-inspired spider silk” because of its similarity to the silk spiders use to spin their webs, has applications in textiles, cosmetics, and even medicine.

“Spider silk is nature’s Kevlar,” said Helen Zha, Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering and one of the RPI researchers leading the project. “It can be nearly as strong as steel under tension. However, it’s six times less dense than steel, so it’s very lightweight. As a bioplastic, it’s stretchy, tough, nontoxic, and biodegradable.”

All those attributes make it a great material for a future where renewable resources and avoidance of persistent plastic pollution are the norm, Zha said.

Polyethylene plastic, found in products such as plastic bags, water bottles, and food packaging, is the biggest contributor to plastic pollution globally and can take upward of 1,000 years to degrade naturally. Only a small portion of polyethylene plastic is recycled, so the bacteria used in the study could help “upcycle” some of the remaining waste.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the bacteria used in the study, can naturally consume polyethylene as a food source. The RPI team tackled the challenge of engineering this bacteria to convert the carbon atoms of polyethylene into a genetically encoded silk protein. Surprisingly, they found that their newly developed bacteria could make the silk protein at a yield rivaling some bacteria strains that are more conventionally used in biomanufacturing.

The underlying biological process behind this innovation is something people have employed for millennia.

“Essentially, the bacteria are fermenting the plastic. Fermentation is used to make and preserve all sorts of foods, like cheese, bread, and wine, and in biochemical industries it’s used to make antibiotics, amino acids, and organic acids,” said Mattheos Koffas, Ph.D., Dorothy and Fred Chau ʼ71 Career Development Constellation Professor in Biocatalysis and Metabolic Engineering, and the other researcher leading the project, and who, along with Zha, is a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Rensselaer.

To get bacteria to ferment polyethylene, the plastic is first “predigested,” Zha said. Just like humans need to cut and chew our food into smaller pieces before our bodies can use it, the bacteria has difficulty eating the long molecule chains, or polymers, that comprise polyethylene.

In the study, Zha and Koffas collaborated with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, who depolymerized the plastic by heating it under pressure, producing a soft, waxy substance. Next, the team put a layer of the plastic-derived wax on the bottoms of flasks, which served as the nutrient source for the bacteria culture. This contrasts with typical fermentation, which uses sugars as the nutrient source.

“It’s as if, instead of feeding the bacteria cake, we’re feeding it the candles on the cake,” Zha said.

Then, as a warming plate gently swirled the flasks’ contents, the bacteria went to work. After 72 hours, the scientists strained out the bacteria from the liquid culture, purified the silk protein, and freeze dried it. At that stage, the protein, which resembled torn up cotton balls, could potentially be spun into thread or made into other useful forms.

“What’s really exciting about this process is that, unlike the way plastics are produced today, our process is low energy and doesn’t require the use of toxic chemicals,” Zha said. “The best chemists in the world could not convert polyethylene into spider silk, but these bacteria can. We’re really harnessing what nature has developed to do manufacturing for us.”

However, before upcycled spider silk products become a reality, the researchers will first need to find ways to make the silk protein more efficiently.

“This study establishes that we can use these bacteria to convert plastic to spider silk. Our future work will investigate whether tweaking the bacteria or other aspects of the process will allow us to scale up production,” Koffas said.

“Professors Zha and Koffas represent the new generation of chemical and biological engineers merging biological engineering with materials science to manufacture ecofriendly products. Their work is a novel approach to protecting the environment and reducing our reliance on nonrenewable resources,” said Shekhar Garde, Ph.D., dean of RPI’s School of Engineering.

The study, which was conducted by first author Alexander Connor, who earned his doctorate from RPI in 2023, and co-authors Jessica Lamb and Massimiliano Delferro with Argonne National Laboratory, is published in the journal “Microbial Cell Factories.”

Source:

Samantha Murray, Rensselaer

Photo: TheDigitalArtist, Pixabay
31.01.2024

“Smart nanocomposites” for wearable electronics, vehicles, and buildings

  • Small, lightweight, stretchable, cost-efficient thermoelectric devices signify a breakthrough in sustainable energy development and waste heat recovery.
  • Next-gen flexible energy harvesting systems will owe their efficiency to the integration of graphene nanotubes. They offer easy processability, stable thermoelectric performance, flexibility, and robust mechanical properties.
  • Nanocomposites have high market potential in manufacturing generators for medical and smart wearables, vehicles sensors, and efficient building management.

Around half of the world’s useful energy is wasted as heat due to the limited efficiency of energy conversion devices. For example, one-third of a vehicle’s energy dissipates as waste heat in exhaust gases. At the same time, vehicles contain more and more electronic devices requiring electrical energy.

  • Small, lightweight, stretchable, cost-efficient thermoelectric devices signify a breakthrough in sustainable energy development and waste heat recovery.
  • Next-gen flexible energy harvesting systems will owe their efficiency to the integration of graphene nanotubes. They offer easy processability, stable thermoelectric performance, flexibility, and robust mechanical properties.
  • Nanocomposites have high market potential in manufacturing generators for medical and smart wearables, vehicles sensors, and efficient building management.

Around half of the world’s useful energy is wasted as heat due to the limited efficiency of energy conversion devices. For example, one-third of a vehicle’s energy dissipates as waste heat in exhaust gases. At the same time, vehicles contain more and more electronic devices requiring electrical energy. As another example, lightweight wearable sensors for health and environmental monitoring are also becoming increasingly demanding. The potential to convert waste heat or solar energy into useful electrical power has emerged as an opportunity for more sustainable energy management. Convenient thermoelectric generators (TEGs) currently have only low effectiveness and a relatively large size and weight. Based on expensive or corrosion-vulnerable materials, they are rigid and often contain toxic elements.
 
Recently developed, easy-to-process, self-supporting and flexible nonwoven nanocomposite sheets demonstrate excellent thermoelectric properties combined with good mechanical robustness. A recent paper in ACS Applied Nano Materials described how researches combined a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) with TUBALLTM graphene nanotubes to fabricate a nanocomposite material capable of harvesting electrical energy from sources of waste heat.

Thanks to their high aspect ratio and specific surface area, graphene nanotubes provide TPU with electrical conductivity, making it possible to achieve high thermoelectrical performance while maintaining or improving mechanical properties. “Stiffness, strength, and tensile toughness were improved by 7, 25, and 250 times compared to buckypapers, respectively. Nanocomposite sheet shows low electrical resistivity of 7.5*10-3 Ohm×cm, high Young’s modulus of 1.8 GPa, failure strength of 80 MPa, and elongation at break of 41%,” said Dr. Beate Krause, Group Leader, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e. V.

Graphene nanotubes, being a fundamentally new material, provide an opportunity to replace current TEG materials with more environmentally friendly ones. The sensors powered by such thermoelectric generators could act as a “smart skin” for vehicles and buildings, providing sensoring capabilities to monitor performance and prevent potential issues before they lead to breakdowns, ensuring optimal operational efficiency. In aircraft, no-wire nanocomposites could serve as stand-alone sensors for monitoring deicing systems, eliminating the need for an extensive network of electrical cables. The high flexibility, strength, and reliability of graphene nanotube-enabled thermoelectric materials also extend their applications into the realm of smart wearable and medical devices.

Source:

Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e. V. / OCSiAl

Photo: Sibi Suku, unsplash
29.01.2024

Naturalistic silk spun from artificial spider gland

Researchers led by Keiji Numata at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan, along with colleagues from the RIKEN Pioneering Research Cluster, have succeeded in creating a device that spins artificial spider silk that closely matches what spiders naturally produce. The artificial silk gland was able to re-create the complex molecular structure of silk by mimicking the various chemical and physical changes that naturally occur in a spider’s silk gland. This eco-friendly innovation is a big step towards sustainability and could impact several industries. This study was published January 15 in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Researchers led by Keiji Numata at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science in Japan, along with colleagues from the RIKEN Pioneering Research Cluster, have succeeded in creating a device that spins artificial spider silk that closely matches what spiders naturally produce. The artificial silk gland was able to re-create the complex molecular structure of silk by mimicking the various chemical and physical changes that naturally occur in a spider’s silk gland. This eco-friendly innovation is a big step towards sustainability and could impact several industries. This study was published January 15 in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

Famous for its strength, flexibility, and light weight, spider silk has a tensile strength that is comparable to steel of the same diameter, and a strength to weight ratio that is unparalleled. Added to that, it’s biocompatible, meaning that it can be used in medical applications, as well as biodegradable. So why isn’t everything made from spider silk? Large-scale harvesting of silk from spiders has proven impractical for several reasons, leaving it up to scientists to develop a way to produce it in the laboratory.

Spider silk is a biopolymer fiber made from large proteins with highly repetitive sequences, called spidroins. Within the silk fibers are molecular substructures called beta sheets, which must be aligned properly for the silk fibers to have their unique mechanical properties. Re-creating this complex molecular architecture has confounded scientists for years. Rather than trying to devise the process from scratch, RIKEN scientists took a biomimicry approach. As Numata explains, “in this study, we attempted to mimic natural spider silk production using microfluidics, which involves the flow and manipulation of small amounts of fluids through narrow channels. Indeed, one could say that that the spider’s silk gland functions as a sort of natural microfluidic device.”

The device developed by the researchers looks like a small rectangular box with tiny channels grooved into it. Precursor spidroin solution is placed at one end and then pulled towards the other end by means of negative pressure. As the spidroins flow through the microfluidic channels, they are exposed to precise changes in the chemical and physical environment, which are made possible by the design of the microfluidic system. Under the correct conditions, the proteins self-assembled into silk fibers with their characteristic complex structure.

The researchers experimented to find these correct conditions, and eventually were able to optimize the interactions among the different regions of the microfluidic system. Among other things, they discovered that using force to push the proteins through did not work; only when they used negative pressure to pull the spidroin solution could continuous silk fibers with the correct telltale alignment of beta sheets be assembled.

“It was surprising how robust the microfluidic system was, once the different conditions were established and optimized,” says Senior Scientist Ali Malay, one of the paper’s co-authors. “Fiber assembly was spontaneous, extremely rapid, and highly reproducible. Importantly, the fibers exhibited the distinct hierarchical structure that is found in natural silk fiber.”

The ability to artificially produce silk fibers using this method could provide numerous benefits. Not only could it help reduce the negative impact that current textile manufacturing has on the environment, but the biodegradable and biocompatible nature of spider silk makes it ideal for biomedical applications, such as sutures and artificial ligaments.

“Ideally, we want to have a real-world impact,” says Numata. “For this to occur, we will need to scale-up our fiber-production methodology and make it a continuous process. We will also evaluate the quality of our artificial spider silk using several metrics and make further improvements from there.”

Source:

RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Japan

Better Manufacturing Method for Wound Closures (c) Wilson College of Textiles
03.01.2024

Better Manufacturing Method for Wound Closures

If you’ve ever gotten stitches or had surgery, you may have had a suture. They’re the threads used to close wounds or join tissues together for other purposes.

But did you know that there are different types of sutures which can have an effect on your experience at the doctor or surgeon’s office?

Barbed sutures, for example, can reduce the amount of time you spend on the operating table and lower the likelihood of surgical complications. That type of suture has its roots in the Triangle and is being advanced by students and faculty at the Wilson College of Textiles.

Dr. Gregory Ruff, a nationally-renowned plastic surgeon, first invented the innovative closure in 1991, just down the road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“I was thinking about the fact that we sew wounds together with a loop and a knot and if you tie it too tight, it can constrict the circulation and kill the tissue in that loop,” Dr. Ruff remembers.

If you’ve ever gotten stitches or had surgery, you may have had a suture. They’re the threads used to close wounds or join tissues together for other purposes.

But did you know that there are different types of sutures which can have an effect on your experience at the doctor or surgeon’s office?

Barbed sutures, for example, can reduce the amount of time you spend on the operating table and lower the likelihood of surgical complications. That type of suture has its roots in the Triangle and is being advanced by students and faculty at the Wilson College of Textiles.

Dr. Gregory Ruff, a nationally-renowned plastic surgeon, first invented the innovative closure in 1991, just down the road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

“I was thinking about the fact that we sew wounds together with a loop and a knot and if you tie it too tight, it can constrict the circulation and kill the tissue in that loop,” Dr. Ruff remembers.

“I was thinking about animals, and a porcupine’s quill came to mind. And the aha moment was, ‘What if we put a quill on one side of the wound and another one on the other side of the wound, so there’s no loop: the barbs go in but they don’t come out?’”

As the name suggests, barbed sutures have small projections shooting out of them that can latch onto tissues: think about barbed wire or a fishing hook. Those “quills,” or barbs, allow the suture to self-anchor. Since no knot is needed to secure the suture, the closure is faster, and the lack of knots and constricting loops promotes healing. This also allows surgeons to schedule more surgeries.

Soon after his aha moment, Dr. Ruff started his own company, Quill Medical, to fabricate these barbed sutures. While he had the medical expertise and a solid business partner, Dr. Ruff was looking for someone who could advise him in terms of the material makeup of the suture. The Wilson College’s Biomedical Textile Research Group, under the direction of Professor Martin King, quickly proved to be the perfect partner.

Using the Wilson College’s labs, King’s graduate students conducted a number of tests on Ruff’s sutures across different types of tissues (such as skin, muscle, etc.). One of those students, Nilesh Ingle, found that the barbed sutures worked best when the angles of the barbs were tailored specifically to the type of tissue being sutured.

Years later, one of King’s current graduate students is building on that research insight.
 
Understanding challenges and innovating solutions
Nearly three decades after the barbed suture’s invention, the majority of surgeons still use conventional sutures despite the advantages documented by researchers and surgeons. Why?

Karuna Nambi Gowri, a fiber and polymer science doctoral student in King’s research group, says it comes down to two reasons. The first of these is resistance to change. Most practicing surgeons learned how to use a suture before barbed sutures became more broadly available.

The second obstacle to the use of barbed sutures is procuring them. Barbed sutures tend to be both expensive and low in supply. That’s because the current process for making them (mechanical and blade-based) is inefficient in terms of both time and resources.

That’s where Nambi Gowri’s research with the Wilson College’s Biomedical Textiles Research Group comes in. She’s developing a faster and cheaper method for making the same quality of barbed suture.

“If I fabricate using a laser, the fabrication time is pretty short compared to a mechanical barbing technique,” Nambi Gowri says.

Moving from a mechanical method to a laser method has another advantage.

“The manipulation of the barbed suture itself is easier using a laser,” she says.

In other words, using the lasers will allow Nambi Gowri to apply the custom barb geometries, or angles, suggested by prior researchers on a commercial scale. These custom geometries will allow the barbed suture to be optimized for the type of tissue it will be connecting.

In addition to the new process, Nambi Gowri is also developing a new suture.

“I’m the first one to actually study Catgut barbed sutures,” she explains.

Catgut was actually one of the earliest materials used to make sutures. The filament is made from tissue taken from an animal’s stomach – especially cattle stomachs – hence the name. While the industry had moved away from this material in favor of synthetic polymers, Nambi Gowri sees the potential for Catgut in barbed sutures because of their quick degradation rate.

“These are useful external wound closures,” she says. “Because our body contains so much collagen and Catgut is made up of 90% collagen, it’s a more suitable polymer that can be used in human tissue.”

Hands-on experience informs research
In the meantime, Nambi Gowri has gained hands-on experience to inform her research by fabricating all of the barbed sutures used in Dr. Ruff’s micro facelift surgeries.

The surgery itself is made possible because of the shape and the material composition of the sutures: poly 4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB). This polymer is already present naturally within our bodies, so sutures made from P4HB are naturally and safely absorbed by the body over time. That means patients don’t have to schedule an appointment after surgery for the sutures to be removed.
 
P4HB also provides the perfect combination of strength and elasticity to hold up the facial tissue until the wound has healed. The barbs, on the other hand, allow for the suture to be placed and stay secure within the skin without the need for large incisions.

“That skin tightens up right away,” Dr. Ruff says of the procedure, which draws patients from across the country. “So I don’t have to remove hair, and I don’t have to put a scar at the hairline.”

“These sutures are not available commercially anywhere in the world. So, to be able to mechanically barb different size sutures in a reliable and consistent manner for use in clinical practice, requires skill, experience and knowledge of quality control,” Professor King says of Nambi Gowri’s work.

This has given Karuna a hands-on understanding of the sutures she’s hoping to improve upon.

She says her fiber and polymer science knowledge has played a key role in helping her approach all sides of her research.

“All the analytical characterization techniques that are used for characterization of sutures – like identifying mechanical properties and measuring tensile strength – is actually from my knowledge of textiles,” she says. “I’m applying my polymer chemistry knowledge  to make sure that the laser doesn’t cause the sutures to degrade, melt or experience thermal damage.”

What’s next?
As she works to patent her designs, Nambi Gowri feels confident that her dissertation will set her up for success in the research and development (R&D) field after graduation.

In the meantime, she’s already finding out about the ways her research can have a broader impact.

“Dr. Dan Duffy, DVM, a surgeon at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is also interested in using barbed sutures to repair torn and failed tendons on his animals, but he finds the cost of buying commercial barbed sutures prohibitively expensive. So we need to collaborate,” King says. “Karuna to the rescue!”

Source:

North Carolina State University, Sarah Stone

New conductive, cotton-based fiber developed for smart textiles Photo: Dean Hare, WSU Photo Services
29.12.2023

New conductive, cotton-based fiber developed for smart textiles

A single strand of fiber developed at Washington State University has the flexibility of cotton and the electric conductivity of a polymer, called polyaniline.

The newly developed material showed good potential for wearable e-textiles. The WSU researchers tested the fibers with a system that powered an LED light and another that sensed ammonia gas, detailing their findings in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.

“We have one fiber in two sections: one section is the conventional cotton: flexible and strong enough for everyday use, and the other side is the conductive material,” said Hang Liu, WSU textile researcher and the study’s corresponding author. “The cotton can support the conductive material which can provide the needed function.”

A single strand of fiber developed at Washington State University has the flexibility of cotton and the electric conductivity of a polymer, called polyaniline.

The newly developed material showed good potential for wearable e-textiles. The WSU researchers tested the fibers with a system that powered an LED light and another that sensed ammonia gas, detailing their findings in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.

“We have one fiber in two sections: one section is the conventional cotton: flexible and strong enough for everyday use, and the other side is the conductive material,” said Hang Liu, WSU textile researcher and the study’s corresponding author. “The cotton can support the conductive material which can provide the needed function.”

While more development is needed, the idea is to integrate fibers like these into apparel as sensor patches with flexible circuits. These patches could be part of uniforms for firefighters, soldiers or workers who handle chemicals to detect for hazardous exposures. Other applications include health monitoring or exercise shirts that can do more than current fitness monitors.

“We have some smart wearables, like smart watches, that can track your movement and human vital signs, but we hope that in the future your everyday clothing can do these functions as well,” said Liu. “Fashion is not just color and style, as a lot of people think about it: fashion is science.”

In this study, the WSU team worked to overcome the challenges of mixing the conductive polymer with cotton cellulose. Polymers are substances with very large molecules that have repeating patterns. In this case, the researchers used polyaniline, also known as PANI, a synthetic polymer with conductive properties already used in applications such as printed circuit board manufacturing.

While intrinsically conductive, polyaniline is brittle and by itself, cannot be made into a fiber for textiles. To solve this, the WSU researchers dissolved cotton cellulose from recycled t-shirts into a solution and the conductive polymer into another separate solution. These two solutions were then merged together side-by-side, and the material was extruded to make one fiber.

The result showed good interfacial bonding, meaning the molecules from the different materials would stay together through stretching and bending.

Achieving the right mixture at the interface of cotton cellulose and polyaniline was a delicate balance, Liu said.

“We wanted these two solutions to work so that when the cotton and the conductive polymer contact each other they mix to a certain degree to kind of glue together, but we didn’t want them to mix too much, otherwise the conductivity would be reduced,” she said.

Additional WSU authors on this study included first author Wangcheng Liu as well as Zihui Zhao, Dan Liang, Wei-Hong Zhong and Jinwen Zhang. This research received support from the National Science Foundation and the Walmart Foundation Project.

Source:

Sara Zaske, WSU News & Media Relations

Chemist Unlocks Plastic Alternatives Using Proteins and Clothing Scraps Photo: Challa Kumar, professor emeritus of chemistry, in his lab. (Contributed photo)
21.12.2023

Chemist Unlocks Plastic Alternatives Using Proteins and Clothing Scraps

Challa Kumar has developed methods to create novel plastic-like materials using proteins and fabric.

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic waste are generated worldwide. Between 19 and 23 million tons of that plastic waste makes its way into aquatic ecosystems, and the remaining goes into the ground. An additional 92 million tons of cloth waste is generated annually.

Challa Kumar, professor emeritus of chemistry, “fed up” with the tremendous amount of toxic waste people continually pump into the environment, felt compelled to do something. As a chemist, doing something meant using his expertise to develop new, sustainable materials.

“Everyone should think about replacing fossil fuel-based materials with natural materials anywhere they can to help our civilization to survive,” Kumar says. “The house is on fire, we can’t wait. If the house is on fire and you start digging a well – that is not going to work. It’s time to start pouring water on the house.”

Challa Kumar has developed methods to create novel plastic-like materials using proteins and fabric.

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic waste are generated worldwide. Between 19 and 23 million tons of that plastic waste makes its way into aquatic ecosystems, and the remaining goes into the ground. An additional 92 million tons of cloth waste is generated annually.

Challa Kumar, professor emeritus of chemistry, “fed up” with the tremendous amount of toxic waste people continually pump into the environment, felt compelled to do something. As a chemist, doing something meant using his expertise to develop new, sustainable materials.

“Everyone should think about replacing fossil fuel-based materials with natural materials anywhere they can to help our civilization to survive,” Kumar says. “The house is on fire, we can’t wait. If the house is on fire and you start digging a well – that is not going to work. It’s time to start pouring water on the house.”

Kumar has developed two technologies that use proteins and cloth, respectively, to create new materials. UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services (TCS) has filed provisional patents for both technologies.

Inspired by nature’s ability to construct a diverse array of functional materials, Kumar and his team developed a method to produce continuously tunable non-toxic materials.

“Chemistry is the only thing standing in our way,” Kumar says. “If we understand protein chemistry, we can make protein materials as strong as a diamond or as soft as a feather.”

The first innovation is a process to transform naturally occurring proteins into plastic-like materials. Kumar’s student, Ankarao Kalluri ’23 Ph.D., worked on this project.

Proteins have “reactor groups” on their surfaces which can react with substances with which they come into contact. Using his knowledge of how these groups work, Kumar and his team used a chemical link to bind protein molecules together.

This process creates a dimer – a molecule composed to two proteins. From there, the dimer is joined with another dimer to create tetramer, and so on until it becomes a large 3D molecule. This 3D aspect of the technology is unique, since most synthetic polymers are linear chains.

This novel 3D structure allows the new polymer to behave like a plastic. Just like the proteins of which it is made, the material can stretch, change shape, and fold. Thus, the material can be tailored via chemistry for a variety of specific applications.

Unlike synthetic polymers, because Kumar’s material is made of proteins and a bio-linking chemical, it can biodegrade, just like plant and animal proteins do naturally.

“Nature degrades proteins by ripping apart the amide bonds that are in them,” Kumar says. “It has enzymes to handle that sort of chemistry. We have the same amide linkages in our materials. So, the same enzymes that work in biology should also work on this material and biodegrade it naturally.”

In the lab, the team found that the material degrades within a few days in acidic solution. Now, they are investigating what happens if they bury this material in the ground, which is the fate of many post-consumer plastics.

They have demonstrated that the protein-based material can form a variety of plastic-like products, including coffee cup lids and thin transparent films. It could also be used to make fire-resistant roof tiles, or higher-end materials like, car doors, rocket cone tips, or heart valves.

The next steps for this technology are to continue testing their mechanical properties, like strength or flexibility, as well as toxicity.

“I think we need to have social consciousness that we cannot put out materials into the environment that are toxic,” Kumar says. “We just cannot. We have to stop doing that. And we cannot use materials derived from fossil fuels either.”

Kumar’s second technology uses a similar principle, but instead of just proteins, uses proteins reinforced with natural fibers, specifically cotton.

“We are creating a lot of textile waste each year due to the fast-changing fashion industry” Kumar says. “So why not use that waste to create useful materials – convert waste to wealth.”

Just like the plastic-like protein materials (called “Proteios,” derived from original Greek words), Kumar expects composite materials made from proteins and natural fibers will biodegrade without producing toxic waste.

In the lab, Kumar’s former student, doctoral candidate Adekeye Damilola, created many objects with protein-fabric composites, which include small shoes, desks, flowers, and chairs. This material contains textile fibers which serve as the linking agent with the proteins, rather than the cross-linking chemical Kumar uses for the protein-based plastics.

The crosslinking provides the novel material with the strength to withstand the weight that would be put on something like a chair or a table. The natural affinity between fibers and proteins is why it’s so hard to get food stains out of clothing. This same attraction makes strong protein-fabric materials.

While Kumar’s team has only worked with cotton so far, they expect other fiber materials, like hemp fibers or jute, would behave similarly due to their inherent but common chemical properties with cotton.

“The protein naturally adheres to the surface of the protein,” Kumar says. “We used that understanding to say ‘Hey, if it binds so tightly to cotton, why don’t we make a material out of it.’ And it works, it works amazingly.”

With the support of TCS, Professor Kumar is currently seeking industry partners to bring these technologies to market. For more information contact Michael Invernale at michael.invernale@uconn.edu.

Source:

Anna Zarra Aldrich '20 (CLAS), Office of the Vice President for Research

Firefighter Photo: 12019 at Pixabay
11.12.2023

Study tests firefighter turnout gear with, without PFAS


Transitioning away from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which offer water- and oil-repelling properties on the outer shells of firefighter turnout gear, could bring potential performance tradeoffs, according to a new study from North Carolina State University.

The study showed that turnout gear without PFAS outer shell coatings were not oil-repellent, posing a potential flammability hazard to firefighters if exposed to oil and flame, said Bryan Ormond, assistant professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the research.

“All oil repellents can also repel water, but all water repellents don’t necessarily repel oil,” Ormond said. “Diesel fuel is really difficult to repel, as is hydraulic fluid; in our testing, PFAS-treated materials repel both. In our tests, turnout gear without PFAS repelled water but not oil or hydraulic fluid.


Transitioning away from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which offer water- and oil-repelling properties on the outer shells of firefighter turnout gear, could bring potential performance tradeoffs, according to a new study from North Carolina State University.

The study showed that turnout gear without PFAS outer shell coatings were not oil-repellent, posing a potential flammability hazard to firefighters if exposed to oil and flame, said Bryan Ormond, assistant professor of textile engineering, chemistry and science at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the research.

“All oil repellents can also repel water, but all water repellents don’t necessarily repel oil,” Ormond said. “Diesel fuel is really difficult to repel, as is hydraulic fluid; in our testing, PFAS-treated materials repel both. In our tests, turnout gear without PFAS repelled water but not oil or hydraulic fluid.

“Further, oils seem to spread out even more on the PFAS-free gear, potentially increasing the hazard.”

PFAS chemicals – known as forever chemicals because of their environmental persistence – are used in food packaging, cookware and cosmetics, among other uses, but have recently been implicated in higher risks of cancer, higher cholesterol levels and compromised immune systems in humans. In response, firefighters have sought alternative chemical compounds – like the hydrocarbon wax coating used in the study – on turnout gear to repel water and oils.

Besides testing the oil- and water-repelling properties of PFAS-treated and PFAS-free outer garments, the NC State researchers also compared how the outer shells aged in job-related exposures like weathering, high heat and repeated laundering, and whether the garments remained durable and withstood tears and rips.

The study showed that PFAS-treated and PFAS-free outer shells performed similarly after exposure to UV rays and various levels of heat and moisture, as well as passes through heating equipment – similar to a pizza oven – and through washing machines.

“Laundering the gear is actually very damaging to turnout gear because of the washing machine’s agitation and cleaning agents used,” Ormond said.

“We also performed chemical analyses to see what’s happening during the weathering process,” said Nur Mazumder, an NC State doctoral student in fiber and polymer science and lead author of the paper. “Are we losing the PFAS chemistries, the PFAS-free chemistries or both when we age the garments? It turns out that we lost significant amounts of both of these finishes after the aging tests.”

Both types of garments performed similarly when tested for strength against tearing the outer shell fabric. The researchers say the PFAS and PFAS-free coatings didn’t seem to affect this attribute.

Ormond said that future work will explore how much oil repellency is needed by firefighters out in the field.
“Even with PFAS treatment, you see a difference between a splash of fluid and soaked-in fluid,” Ormond said. “For all of its benefits, PFAS-treated gear, when soaked, is dangerous to firefighters. So we need to really ask ‘What do firefighters need?’ If you’re not experiencing this need for oil repellency, there’s no worry about switching to non-PFAS gear. But firefighters need to know the non-PFAS gear will absorb oil, regardless of what those oils are.”

Andrew Hall, another NC State doctoral student in fiber and polymer science and co-author on the paper, is also testing dermal absorption, or taking the aged outer shell materials and placing them on a skin surrogate for a day or two. Are outer shell chemicals absorbed in the skin surrogate after these admittedly extreme exposure durations?

“Firefighting as a job is classified as a carcinogen but it shouldn’t have to be,” Ormond said. “How do we make better gear for them? How do we come up with better finishes and strategies for them?

“These aren’t just fabrics,” Ormond said. “They are highly engineered pieces of material that aren’t easily replaced.”

The paper appears in the Journal of Industrial Textiles. Funding for the research came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program.

Source:

North Carolina State University, Mick Kulikowski

06.11.2023

Shape-shifting fiber can produce morphing fabrics

The low-cost FibeRobo, which is compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, could be used in adaptive performance wear or compression garments.

Researchers from MIT and Northeastern University developed a liquid crystal elastomer fiber that can change its shape in response to thermal stimuli. The fiber, which is fully compatible with existing textile manufacturing machinery, could be used to make morphing textiles, like a jacket that becomes more insulating to keep the wearer warm when temperatures drop.

The low-cost FibeRobo, which is compatible with existing textile manufacturing techniques, could be used in adaptive performance wear or compression garments.

Researchers from MIT and Northeastern University developed a liquid crystal elastomer fiber that can change its shape in response to thermal stimuli. The fiber, which is fully compatible with existing textile manufacturing machinery, could be used to make morphing textiles, like a jacket that becomes more insulating to keep the wearer warm when temperatures drop.

Instead of needing a coat for each season, imagine having a jacket that would dynamically change shape so it becomes more insulating to keep you warm as the temperature drops.
A programmable, actuating fiber developed by an interdisciplinary team of MIT researchers could someday make this vision a reality. Known as FibeRobo, the fiber contracts in response to an increase in temperature, then self-reverses when the temperature decreases, without any embedded sensors or other hard components.

The low-cost fiber is fully compatible with textile manufacturing techniques, including weaving looms, embroidery, and industrial knitting machines, and can be produced continuously by the kilometer. This could enable designers to easily incorporate actuation and sensing capabilities into a wide range of fabrics for myriad applications.

The fibers can also be combined with conductive thread, which acts as a heating element when electric current runs through it. In this way, the fibers actuate using electricity, which offers a user digital control over a textile’s form. For instance, a fabric could change shape based on any piece of digital information, such as readings from a heart rate sensor.

“We use textiles for everything. We make planes with fiber-reinforced composites, we cover the International Space Station with a radiation-shielding fabric, we use them for personal expression and performance wear. So much of our environment is adaptive and responsive, but the one thing that needs to be the most adaptive and responsive — textiles — is completely inert,” says Jack Forman, a graduate student in the Tangible Media Group of the MIT Media Lab, with a secondary affiliation at the Center for Bits and Atoms, and lead author of a paper on the actuating fiber.

He is joined on the paper by 11 other researchers at MIT and Northeastern University, including his advisors, Professor Neil Gershenfeld, who leads the Center for Bits and Atoms, and Hiroshi Ishii, the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Arts and Sciences and director of the Tangible Media Group. The research will be presented at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.

Morphing materials
The MIT researchers wanted a fiber that could actuate silently and change its shape dramatically, while being compatible with common textile manufacturing procedures. To achieve this, they used a material known as liquid crystal elastomer (LCE).

A liquid crystal is a series of molecules that can flow like liquid, but when they’re allowed to settle, they stack into a periodic crystal arrangement. The researchers incorporate these crystal structures into an elastomer network, which is stretchy like a rubber band.

As the LCE material heats up, the crystal molecules fall out of alignment and pull the elastomer network together, causing the fiber to contract. When the heat is removed, the molecules return to their original alignment, and the material to its original length, Forman explains.

By carefully mixing chemicals to synthesize the LCE, the researchers can control the final properties of the fiber, such as its thickness or the temperature at which it actuates.

They perfected a preparation technique that creates LCE fiber which can actuate at skin-safe temperatures, making it suitable for wearable fabrics.

“There are a lot of knobs we can turn. It was a lot of work to come up with this process from scratch, but ultimately it gives us a lot of freedom for the resulting fiber,” he adds.
However, the researchers discovered that making fiber from LCE resin is a finicky process. Existing techniques often result in a fused mass that is impossible to unspool.

Researchers are also exploring other ways to make functional fibers, such as by incorporating hundreds of microscale digital chips into a polymer, utilizing an activated fluidic system, or including piezoelectric material that can convert sound vibrations into electrical signals.

Fiber fabrication
Forman built a machine using 3D-printed and laser-cut parts and basic electronics to overcome the fabrication challenges. He initially built the machine as part of the graduate-level course MAS.865 (Rapid-Prototyping of Rapid-Prototyping Machines: How to Make Something that Makes [almost] Anything).

To begin, the thick and viscous LCE resin is heated, and then slowly squeezed through a nozzle like that of a glue gun. As the resin comes out, it is cured carefully using UV lights that shine on both sides of the slowly extruding fiber.

If the light is too dim, the material will separate and drip out of the machine, but if it is too bright, clumps can form, which yields bumpy fibers.

Then the fiber is dipped in oil to give it a slippery coating and cured again, this time with UV lights turned up to full blast, creating a strong and smooth fiber. Finally, it is collected into a top spool and dipped in powder so it will slide easily into machines for textile manufacturing.
From chemical synthesis to finished spool, the process takes about a day and produces approximately a kilometer of ready-to-use fiber.

“At the end of the day, you don’t want a diva fiber. You want a fiber that, when you are working with it, falls into the ensemble of materials — one that you can work with just like any other fiber material, but then it has a lot of exciting new capabilities,” Forman says.

Creating such a fiber took a great deal of trial and error, as well as the collaboration of researchers with expertise in many disciplines, from chemistry to mechanical engineering to electronics to design.

The resulting fiber, called FibeRobo, can contract up to 40 percent without bending, actuate at skin-safe temperatures (the skin-safe version of the fiber contracts up to about 25 percent), and be produced with a low-cost setup for 20 cents per meter, which is about 60 times cheaper than commercially available shape-changing fibers.

The fiber can be incorporated into industrial sewing and knitting machines, as well as nonindustrial processes like hand looms or manual crocheting, without the need for any process modifications.
The MIT researchers used FibeRobo to demonstrate several applications, including an adaptive sports bra made by embroidery that tightens when the user begins exercising.

They also used an industrial knitting machine to create a compression jacket for Forman’s dog, whose name is Professor. The jacket would actuate and “hug” the dog based on a Bluetooth signal from Forman’s smartphone. Compression jackets are commonly used to alleviate the separation anxiety a dog can feel while its owner is away.

In the future, the researchers want to adjust the fiber’s chemical components so it can be recyclable or biodegradable. They also want to streamline the polymer synthesis process so users without wet lab expertise could make it on their own.

Forman is excited to see the FibeRobo applications other research groups identify as they build on these early results. In the long run, he hopes FibeRobo can become something a maker could buy in a craft store, just like a ball of yarn, and use to easily produce morphing fabrics.

“LCE fibers come to life when integrated into functional textiles. It is particularly fascinating to observe how the authors have explored creative textile designs using a variety of weaving and knitting patterns,” says Lining Yao, the Cooper-Siegel Associate Professor of Human Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved with this work.

This research was supported, in part, by the William Asbjornsen Albert Memorial Fellowship, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Professor Program, Toppan Printing Co., Honda Research, Chinese Scholarship Council, and Shima Seiki. The team included Ozgun Kilic Afsar, Sarah Nicita, Rosalie (Hsin-Ju) Lin, Liu Yang, Akshay Kothakonda, Zachary Gordon, and Cedric Honnet at MIT; and Megan Hofmann and Kristen Dorsey at Northeastern University.

Source:

MIT and Northeastern University

offshore windpark Nicholas Doherty, unsplash
17.10.2023

Pyrolysis processes promise sustainable recycling of fiber composites

Wind turbines typically operate for 20 to 30 years before they are undergoing dismantling and recycling. However, the recycling of fiber composites, especially from the thick-walled rotor blade parts, has been inadequate until now. The prevailing methods involve thermal or mechanical recycling. For a sustainable and holistic recycling process, a research consortium led by Fraunhofer IFAM is pooling their expertise to recover the fibers through pyrolysis. Subsequent surface treatment and quality testing of the recyclates allow for them to be used again in industry.

Wind turbines typically operate for 20 to 30 years before they are undergoing dismantling and recycling. However, the recycling of fiber composites, especially from the thick-walled rotor blade parts, has been inadequate until now. The prevailing methods involve thermal or mechanical recycling. For a sustainable and holistic recycling process, a research consortium led by Fraunhofer IFAM is pooling their expertise to recover the fibers through pyrolysis. Subsequent surface treatment and quality testing of the recyclates allow for them to be used again in industry.

Today, the vast majority of wind turbines can already be recycled cleanly. In the case of rotor blades, however, recycling is only just beginning. Due to the 20-year operation period and the installation rates, the blade volume for recycling will be increasing in the coming years and decades. In 2000, for example, around 6,000 wind turbines were erected in Germany, which now need to be fed into a sustainable recycling process. In 2022, about 30,000 onshore and offshore wind turbines with a capacity of 65 gigawatts were in operation in Germany alone.

As wind energy is the most important cornerstone for a climate-neutral power supply, the German government has set itself the goal of further increasing its wind energy capacity by 2030 by installing larger and more modern turbines. Rotor blades will become longer, the proportion of carbon fibers used will continue to increase - and so will the amount of waste. In addition, the existing material mix in rotor blades is expected to increase in the future and precise knowledge of the structure of the components will become even more important for recycling. This underscores the urgency of developing sustainable processing methods, especially for recycling the thick-walled fiber composites in the rotor blades.

Economic and ecological recycling solution for fiber composites on the horizon
Rotor blades of wind turbines currently up for recycling consist of more than 85 percent of glass- and carbon-fiber-reinforced thermosets (GFRP/CFRP). A large proportion of these materials is found in the flange and root area and within the fiber-reinforced straps as thick-walled laminates with a wall thicknesses of up to 150 mm. Research into high-quality material fiber recycling as continuous fibers is of particular importance, not only because of the energy required for carbon fiber production. This is where the project "Pyrolysis of thick-walled fiber composites as a key innovation in the recycling process for wind turbine rotor blades" – "RE SORT" for short – funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection comes in. The aim of the project team is the complete recycling by means of pyrolysis.

A prerequisite for high-quality recycling of fiber composites is the separation of the fibers from the mostly thermoset matrix. Although pyrolysis is a suitable process for this purpose, it has not yet gained widespread adoption. Within the project, the project partners are therefore investigating and developing pyrolysis technologies that make the recycling of thick-walled fiber composite structures economically feasible and are technically different from the recycling processes commonly used for fiber composites today. Both quasi-continuous batch and microwave pyrolysis are being considered.

Batch pyrolysis, which is being developed within the project, is a pyrolysis process in which the thermoset matrix of thick fiber composite components is slowly decomposed into oily and especially gaseous hydrocarbon compounds by external heating. In microwave pyrolysis, energy is supplied by the absorption of microwave radiation, resulting in internal rapid heat generation. Quasi-continuous batch pyrolysis as well as microwave pyrolysis allow the separation of pyrolysis gases or oils. The planned continuous microwave pyrolysis also allows for the fibers to be preserved and reused in their full length.

How the circular economy succeeds - holistic utilization of the recycled products obtained
In the next step, the surfaces of the recovered recycled fibers are prepared by means of atmospheric plasmas and wet-chemical coatings to ensure their suitability for reuse in industrial applications. Finally, strength tests can be used to decide whether the recycled fibers will be used again in the wind energy industry or, for example, in the automotive or sporting goods sectors.

The pyrolysis oils and pyrolysis gases obtained in batch and microwave pyrolysis are evaluated with respect to their usability as raw materials for polymer synthesis (pyrolysis oils) or as energy sources for energy use in combined heat and power (CHP) plants (pyrolysis gases).

Both quasi-continuous batch pyrolysis and continuous-flow microwave pyrolysis promise economical operation and a significant reduction in the environmental footprint of wind energy. Therefore, the chances for a technical implementation and utilization of the project results are very good, so that this project can make a decisive contribution to the achievement of the sustainability and climate goals of the German Federal Government.

Source:

Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte Materialforschung IFAM

TiHive Wins RISE® Innovation Award for their SAPMonit Technology Photo INDA
03.10.2023

TiHive Wins RISE® Innovation Award for their SAPMonit Technology

Business leaders, product developers, and technology scouts convened at the RISE® (Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics) Conference, Sept. 26-27, Raleigh, NC for two days of valuable insights in material science, process and sustainability innovations. RISE is co-organized by INDA and The Nonwovens Institute, North Carolina State University.

Industry, academic, and government experts shared their expertise in these key areas:

Business leaders, product developers, and technology scouts convened at the RISE® (Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics) Conference, Sept. 26-27, Raleigh, NC for two days of valuable insights in material science, process and sustainability innovations. RISE is co-organized by INDA and The Nonwovens Institute, North Carolina State University.

Industry, academic, and government experts shared their expertise in these key areas:

  • The future of nonwoven manufacturing
  • Real-world applications and advances in filter media
  • rPolymers and sustainability
  • Innovative strategies and circular solutions
  • Advancements in sustainable nonwoven applications
  • Market statistics and data trends

A highlight of RISE was a poster presentation of fundamental nonwovens research by The Nonwovens Institute’s graduate students. As an added value, The Nonwovens Institute offered RISE participants a tour of its world-class facilities located on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University, featuring the most extensive set of lab- and pilot-scale equipment found anywhere including all the nonwovens platform and testing technologies.

RISE® Innovation Award Winner
TiHive won the 2023 RISE Innovation Award for their SAPMonit technology. TiHive’s innovation, SAPMonit – a technology breakthrough, inspects millions of diapers weekly. SAPMonit delivers lightning-speed inline inspection of superabsorbents’ weight and distribution, optimizes resources, detects flaws, and accelerates R&D. SAPMonit utilizes advanced see-through cameras, high-speed vision algorithms, and secure cloud integration, revolutionizing industry norms. SAPMonit has great potential for sustainability, cost reduction, and enhanced customer satisfaction as it avoids hundreds of tons of plastic waste per year per machine.

The RISE Innovation Award finalists included Curt. G. Joa, Inc. for their ESC-8 – The JOA® Electronic Size Change, Fiberpartner Aps for their BicoBio Fiber, and Reifenhäuser REICOFIL GmbH & Co. KG for their Reifenhäuser Reicofil RF5 XHL.  Together, these finalists’ innovations have the potential to reduce plastic waste by millions of kgs.

DiaperRecycle won the 2022 RISE® Innovation Award for its innovative technology to recycle used diapers into absorbent and flushable cat litter. By diverting used diapers from households and institutions, and separating the plastic and fiber, DiaperRecycle strives to decrease the climate-changing emissions of diapers from landfills.

2023 INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award
Ed Thomas, President, Nonwoven Technology Associates, LLC, received the 2023 INDA Lifetime Technical Achievement Award for his decades of nonwoven contributions to the growth and success of the nonwoven industry.

RISE 2024 will be held October 1-2, 2024 at the James B. Hunt Jr. Library at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.

More information:
INDA RISE® nonwovens
Source:

INDA

(c) NC State
07.08.2023

Wearable Connector Technology - Benefits to Military, Medicine and beyond

What comes to mind when you think about “wearable technology?” In 2023, likely a lot, at a time when smartwatches and rings measure heart rates, track exercise and even receive text messages. Your mind might even drift to that “ugly” light-up sweater or costume you saw last Halloween or holiday season.

At the Wilson College of Textiles, though, researchers are hard at work optimizing a truly new-age form of wearable technology that can be proven useful in a wide range of settings, from fashion and sports to augmented reality, the military and medicine.

Currently in its final stages, this grant-funded project could help protect users in critical situations, such as soldiers on the battlefield and patients in hospitals, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of what textiles research can accomplish.

What comes to mind when you think about “wearable technology?” In 2023, likely a lot, at a time when smartwatches and rings measure heart rates, track exercise and even receive text messages. Your mind might even drift to that “ugly” light-up sweater or costume you saw last Halloween or holiday season.

At the Wilson College of Textiles, though, researchers are hard at work optimizing a truly new-age form of wearable technology that can be proven useful in a wide range of settings, from fashion and sports to augmented reality, the military and medicine.

Currently in its final stages, this grant-funded project could help protect users in critical situations, such as soldiers on the battlefield and patients in hospitals, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of what textiles research can accomplish.

“The goals set for this research are quite novel to any other literature that exists on wearable connectors” says Shourya Dhatri Lingampally, Wilson College of Textiles graduate student and research assistant involved in the project alongside Wilson College Associate Professor Minyoung Suh.

Ongoing since the fall of 2021, Suh and Lingampally’s work focuses on textile-integrated wearable connectors, a unique, high-tech sort of “bridge” between flexible textiles and external electronic devices. At its essence, the project aims to improve these connectors’ Technology Readiness Level — a key rating used by NASA and the Department of Defense used to assess a particular technology’s maturity.

To do this, Lingampally and her colleagues’ research examines problems that have, in the past, affected the performance of wearable devices.

Sure, these advances may benefit fashion, leading to eccentric shirts, jackets, or accessories — “to light up or change its color based on the wearer’s biometric data,” Lingampally offers — the research has roots in a much deeper mission.

Potential benefits to military, medicine and beyond
The project is funded through more than $200,000 in grant money from Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), a United States Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The mission of AFFOA is to support domestic manufacturing capability to support new technical textile products, such as textile-based wearable technologies.

A key purpose of the research centers around improving the functionality of wearable monitoring devices with which soldiers are sometimes outfitted to monitor the health and safety of their troops remotely.

Similar devices allow doctors and other medical personnel to remotely monitor the health of patients even while away from the bedside.

Though such technology has existed for years, it’s too often required running wires and an overall logistically-unfriendly design. That could soon change.

“We have consolidated the electronic components into a small snap or buckle, making the circuits less obtrusive to the wearer,” Lingampally says, explaining the team’s innovations, which include 3D printing the connector prototypes using stereolithography technology.

“We are trying to optimize the design parameters in order to enhance the electrical and mechanical performance of these connectors,” she adds.

To accomplish their goals, the group collaborated with NC State Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Research Professor James Dieffenderfer. The team routed a variety of electrical connections and interconnects like conductive thread, epoxy and solder through textile materials equipped with rigid electronic devices.

They also tested the components for compatibility with standard digital device connections like USB 2.0 and I2C.

Ultimately, Lingampally hopes their work will make wearable technology not only easier and more comfortable to use, but available at a lower price, too.

“I would like to see them scaled, to be mass manufactured, so they can be cost efficient for any industry to use,” she explains.

In a bigger-picture sense, though, her team’s work is reinforcing the far-reaching boundaries of what smart textile research can accomplish; a purpose that stretches far beyond fashion or comfort.

Pushing the boundaries of textiles research
Suh and Lingampally’s work is just the latest breakthrough research originating from the Wilson College of Textiles that’s aimed at solving critical problems in the textile industry and beyond.

“The constant advancements in technology and materials present immense potential for the textile industry to drive positive change across a range of fields from fashion to healthcare and beyond,” Lingampally, a graduate student in the M.S. Textiles program, says, noting the encouragement she feels in her program to pursue innovation and creativity in selecting and advancing her research.

Additionally, in the fiber and polymer science doctoral program, which Suh does research with, candidates focus their research on a seemingly endless array of STEM topics, ranging from forensics to medical textiles, nanotechnology and, indeed, smart wearable technology (just to name a few).

In this case, Suh says, the research lent itself to “unexpected challenges” that required intriguing adaptations “at every corner.” But, ultimately, it led to breakthroughs not previously seen in the wearable technology industry, attracting interest from other researchers outside the university, and private companies, too.

“This project was quite exploratory by nature as there hasn’t been any prior research aiming to the same objectives,” Suh says.

Meanwhile, the team has completed durability and reliability testing on its textile-integrated wearable connectors. Eventually, the group would like to increase the sample size for testing to strengthen and validate the findings. The team also hopes to evaluate new, innovative interconnective techniques, as well as other 3D printing techniques and materials as they work to further advance wearable technologies.

Source:

North Carolina State University, Sean Cudahy

Photo: Claude Huniade
11.07.2023

Ionofibres a new track for smart and functional textiles

Electronically conductive fibres are already in use in smart textiles, but in a recently published research article, ionically conductive fibres have proven to be of increasing interest. The so-called ionofibres achieve higher flexibility and durability and match the type of conduction our body uses. In the future, they may be used for such items as textile batteries, textile displays, and textile muscles.

The research project is being carried out by doctoral student Claude Huniade at the University of Borås and is a track within a larger project, Weafing, the goal of which is to develop novel, unprecedented garments for haptic stimulation comprising flexible and wearable textile actuators and sensors, including control electronics, as a new type of textile-based large area electronics.

WEAFING stands for Wearable Electroactive Fabrics Integrated in Garments. It started 1 January 2019 and ended 30 June 2023.

Electronically conductive fibres are already in use in smart textiles, but in a recently published research article, ionically conductive fibres have proven to be of increasing interest. The so-called ionofibres achieve higher flexibility and durability and match the type of conduction our body uses. In the future, they may be used for such items as textile batteries, textile displays, and textile muscles.

The research project is being carried out by doctoral student Claude Huniade at the University of Borås and is a track within a larger project, Weafing, the goal of which is to develop novel, unprecedented garments for haptic stimulation comprising flexible and wearable textile actuators and sensors, including control electronics, as a new type of textile-based large area electronics.

WEAFING stands for Wearable Electroactive Fabrics Integrated in Garments. It started 1 January 2019 and ended 30 June 2023.

These wearables are based on a new kind of textile muscles which yarns are coated with electromechanically active polymers and contract when a low voltage is applied. Textile muscles offer a completely novel and very different quality of haptic sensation, accessing also receptors of our tactile sensory system that do not react on vibration, but on soft pressure or stroke.

Furthermore, being textile materials, they offer a new way of designing and fabricating wearable haptics and can be seamlessly integrated into fabrics and garments. For these novel form of textile muscles, a huge range of possible applications in haptics is foreseen: for ergonomics, movement coaching in sports, or wellness, for enhancement of virtual or augmented reality applications in gaming or for training purposes, for inclusion of visually handicapped people by providing them information about their environment, for stress reduction or social communication, adaptive furniture, automotive industry and many more.

In Claude Huniade’s project, the goal is to produce conductive yarns without conductive metals.

"My research is about producing electrically conductive textile fibres, and ultimately yarns, by coating non-metals sustainably on commercial yarns. The biggest challenge is in the balance between keeping the textile properties and adding the conductive feature," said Claude Huniade.

Currenty, the uniqueness of his research leans towards the strategies employed when coating. These strategies expand to the processes and the materials used.

Uses ionic liquid
One of the tracks he investigates is about a new kind of material as textile coating, ionic liquids in combination with commercial textile fibres. Just like salt water, they conduct electricity but without water. Ionic liquid is a more stable electrolyte than salt water as nothing evaporates.

"The processable aspect is an important requirement since textile manufacturing can be harsh on textile fibres, especially when upscaling their use. The fibres can also be manufactured into woven or knitted without damaging them mechanically while retaining their conductivity. Surprisingly, they were even smoother to process into fabrics than the commercial yarns they are made from," explained Claude Huniade.

Ionofibres could be used as sensors since ionic liquids are sensitive to their environment. For example, humidity change can be sensed by the ionofibers, but also any stretch or pressure they are subjected to.

"Ionofibres could truly shine when they are combined with other materials or devices that require electrolytes. Ionofibres enable certain phenomena currently limited to happen in liquids to be feasible in air in a lightweight fashion. The applications are multiple and unique, for example for textile batteries, textile displays or textile muscles," said Claude Huniade.

Needs further research
Yet more research is needed to combine the ionofibres with other functional fibres and to produce the unique textile devices.

How do they stand out compared to common electronically conductive fibres?

"In comparison to electronically conductive fibres, ionofibers are different in how they conduct electricity. They are less conductive, but they bring other properties that electronically conductive fibers often lack. Ionofibres achieve higher flexibility and durability and match the type of conduction that our body uses. They actually match better than electronically conductive fibres with how electricity is present in nature," he concluded.

Source:

University of Borås

Photo: Bcomp
22.11.2022

Made in Switzerland: Is Flax the New Carbon?

  • Bcomp wins BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the category “Newcomer of the Year”

The sixth BMW Group Supplier Innovation Awards were presented at the BMW Welt in Munich on 17 November 2022. The coveted award was presented in a total of six categories: powertrain & e-mobility, sustainability, digitalisation, customer experience, newcomer of the year and exceptional team performance.

Bcomp won the BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the Newcomer of the Year category. Following a successful collaboration with BMW M Motorsport for the new BMW M4 GT4 that extensively uses Bcomp’s powerRibs™ and ampliTex™ natural fibre solutions and BMW iVentures recently taking a stake in Bcomp as lead investor in the Series B round, this award is another major step and recognition on the path to decarbonizing mobility.

  • Bcomp wins BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the category “Newcomer of the Year”

The sixth BMW Group Supplier Innovation Awards were presented at the BMW Welt in Munich on 17 November 2022. The coveted award was presented in a total of six categories: powertrain & e-mobility, sustainability, digitalisation, customer experience, newcomer of the year and exceptional team performance.

Bcomp won the BMW Group Supplier Innovation Award in the Newcomer of the Year category. Following a successful collaboration with BMW M Motorsport for the new BMW M4 GT4 that extensively uses Bcomp’s powerRibs™ and ampliTex™ natural fibre solutions and BMW iVentures recently taking a stake in Bcomp as lead investor in the Series B round, this award is another major step and recognition on the path to decarbonizing mobility.

“Innovations are key to the success of our transformation towards electromobility, digitalisation and sustainability. Our award ceremony recognises innovation and cooperative partnership with our suppliers – especially in challenging times,” said Joachim Post, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Purchasing and Supplier Network at the ceremony held at BMW Welt in Munich.

BMW first started to work with Bcomp’s materials in 2019 when they used high-performance natural fibre composites in the BMW iFE.20 Formula E car. From this flax fibre reinforced cooling shaft, the collaboration evolved and soon after, the proprietary ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ natural fibre solutions were found successfully substituting selected carbon fibre components in DTM touring cars from BMW M Motorsport. By trickling down and expanding into other vehicle programs, such developments highlight the vital role that BMW M Motorsports plays as a technology lab for the entire BMW Group. This continues in the form of the latest collaboration with Bcomp to include a higher proportion of renewable raw materials in the successor of the BMW M4 GT4.

With the launch of the new BMW M4 GT4, it will be the serial GT car with the highest proportion of natural fibre components. Bcomp’s ampliTex™ and powerRibs™ flax fibre solutions can be found throughout the interior on the dashboard and centre console, as well as on bodywork components such as the hood, front splitter, doors, trunk, and rear wing. Aside from the roof, there are almost no carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) components that were not replaced by the renewable high-performance flax materials. “Product sustainability is increasing in importance in the world of motorsport too,” says Franciscus van Meel, Chairman of the Board of Management at BMW M GmbH.

Bcomp is a leading solutions provider for natural fibre reinforcements in high performance applications from race to space.

The company started as a garage project in 2011 with a mission to create lightweight yet high performance skis. The bCores™ were launched and successfully adopted by some of the biggest names in freeride skiing. The founders, material science PhDs from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), used flax fibres to reinforce the balsa cores and improve shear stiffness. Impressed by the excellent mechanical properties of flax fibres, the development to create sustainable lightweighting solutions for the wider mobility markets started.

Flax is an indigenous plant that grows naturally in Europe and has been part of the agricultural history for centuries. It requires very little water and nutrients to grow successfully. In addition, it acts as a rotational crop, thus enhancing harvests on existing farmland. Neither cultivation nor processing of the flax plants requires any chemicals that could contaminate ground water and harvesting is a completely mechanical process. After harvesting the entire flax plant can be used for feed, to make oil and its fibres are especially used for home textiles and clothing. The long fibre that comes from the flax plant possesses very good mechanical properties and outstanding damping properties in relation to its density, making it especially suited as a natural fibre reinforcement for all kinds of polymers.

The harvesting and processing of flax takes place locally in the rural areas it was grown in. Using European flax sourced through a well-established and transparent supply chain it allows to support the economic and social structure in rural areas thanks to the large and skilled workforce required to sustain the flax production. When it comes to the production of technical products like the powerRibs™ reinforcement grid, Bcomp is investing in local production capacities close to its headquarters in the city of Fribourg, Switzerland, thus creating new jobs and maintaining technical know-how in the area. The production is built to be as efficient as possible and with minimal environmental impact and waste.

Further strengthening the local economy, Bcomp aims to hire local companies for missions and with the headquarters being located in Fribourg’s “Blue Factory” district, Bcomp can both benefit from and contribute to the development of this sustainable and diverse quarter.

Source:

Bcomp; BMW Group

© ITM/TUD - Biomimetic fish fin with dielectric elastomer actors und fiber reinforcement.
08.11.2022

Funding for Fibre-Elastomer Composites: Intelligent materials for robotics and prostheses

  • Successful approval of the 2nd funding period of the DFG Research Training Group 2430 "Interactive fibre-elastomer composites"

Researchers based in Dresden are going to develop a completely new class of materials in which actuators and sensors are integrated directly into flexible fibre composites – contrary to the state of the art. To this end, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the 2nd phase of Research Training Group 2430 "Interactive Fibre-Elastomer Composites" at TU Dresden in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden. The spokesperson is Professor Chokri Cherif from the Institute for Textile Machinery and High-Performance Textile Materials Technology (ITM) at TU Dresden. A total of 22 doctoral students will be supported in eleven interdisciplinary sub-projects over the next 4.5 years, in addition to material and project funding.
 

  • Successful approval of the 2nd funding period of the DFG Research Training Group 2430 "Interactive fibre-elastomer composites"

Researchers based in Dresden are going to develop a completely new class of materials in which actuators and sensors are integrated directly into flexible fibre composites – contrary to the state of the art. To this end, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the 2nd phase of Research Training Group 2430 "Interactive Fibre-Elastomer Composites" at TU Dresden in cooperation with the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden. The spokesperson is Professor Chokri Cherif from the Institute for Textile Machinery and High-Performance Textile Materials Technology (ITM) at TU Dresden. A total of 22 doctoral students will be supported in eleven interdisciplinary sub-projects over the next 4.5 years, in addition to material and project funding.
 
As a result the simulation-based development of intelligent material combinations for so-called self-sufficient fibre composites shall be available. Actuators and sensors are already integrated into the structures and no longer placed subsequently, as it is actual the case. In the first funding phase, the important basis for the large two-dimensional deformations in soft, biomimetic structures were developed. The further funding by the DFG is a confirmation of the outstanding results achieved so far. Building on this, the second funding phase will focus on ionic and helical actuator-sensor concepts. Combined with intelligent design and control algorithms, self-sufficient, three-dimensionally deforming material systems will emerge. This will make these systems more robust, complex preforming patterns can be customised at the desired location - reversibly and contact-free.
 
Fibre composites are used increasingly in moving components due to their high specific stiffness and strengths as well as the possibility of tailoring these properties. By integrating adaptive functions into such materials, the need for subsequent actuator placement is eliminated and the robustness of the system is significantly improved. Actuators and sensors based on textiles, such as those being researched and developed at the ITM, are particularly promising in this respect, as they can be integrated directly into the fibre composites during the manufacturing process.

With their innovative properties, interactive fibre-elastomer composites are predestined for numerous fields of application in mechanical and vehicle engineering, robotics, architecture, orthotics and prosthetics: Examples include systems for precise gripping and transport processes (e.g. in hand prostheses, closures and deformable membranes) and components (e.g. trim tabs for land and water vehicles).

More information:
robot Fibers Composites Funding
Source:

TU Dresden: Institute for Textile Machinery and High Performance Textile Materials (ITM)

First tests with free-form tiles made of wood short fiber filament. (Photo: LZH) Photo: LZH. First tests with free-form tiles made of wood short fiber filament.
19.09.2022

Sustainability in 3D Printing: Components made of Natural Fibers

3D printing has been in use in architecture for a while, and now it is to become ecologically sustainable as well: Together with partners, the LZH is researching how to produce individual building elements from natural fibers using additive manufacturing.

3D printing has been in use in architecture for a while, and now it is to become ecologically sustainable as well: Together with partners, the LZH is researching how to produce individual building elements from natural fibers using additive manufacturing.

In the project 3DNaturDruck, architectural components such as facade elements shall be created from natural fiber-reinforced biopolymers in 3D printing. To this end, the scientists will develop the corresponding composite materials from biopolymers with both natural short fibers and natural continuous fibers and optimize them for processing with the additive manufacturing process FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling). The project partners' goal is to enable smart and innovative designs that are both ecological and sustainable.
 
The goal: highly developed components made from sustainable materials
Within the project, different natural fiber-reinforced biopolymer composites will be investigated. The partners are researching both processing methods with very short natural fibers, such as from wood and straw, and a method for printing continuous fibers from hemp and flax in combination with biopolymers. The LZH then develops processes for these new materials and adapts the tools and nozzle geometries of the FDM printer. A pavilion with the 3D-printed facade elements is planned as a demonstrator on the campus of the University of Stuttgart.
 
The project partners want to explore how additive manufacturing can be used to simplify manufacturing processes for architectural components. Natural fiber-reinforced biopolymers are particularly suitable for producing components with complex geometries in just a few steps and with low material and cost requirements. With their research, the partners are also working on completely new starting conditions for the fabrication of newly developed architectural components: For example, the topology optimization of components according to their structural stress can be easily implemented with additive manufacturing.

Enabling the natural fiber trend in architecture also using additive manufacturing
There is great interest in the use of natural fibers in structural components in architecture and construction because natural fibers have several advantages. They have good mechanical properties combined with low weight and are widely available. As a renewable resource with in some cases very short renewal cycles, they are also clearly a better ecological alternative than synthetic fibers.

In additive manufacturing, large-format elements for the architectural sector have so far mostly been manufactured with polymers based on fossil raw materials. Research in the project 3DNaturDruck should now make the use of natural fibers in architecture possible for additive manufacturing as well.

About 3DNaturDruck
The project 3DNaturDruck is about the design and fabrication of 3D-printed components made of biocomposites using filaments with continuous and short natural fibers.

The project is coordinated by the Department of Biobased Materials and Materials Cycles in Architecture (BioMat) at the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart. In addition to the LZH, project partners include the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut (WKI) and the industrial companies Rapid Prototyping Technologie GmbH (Gifhorn), ETS Extrusionstechnik (Mücheln), 3dk.berlin (Berlin) and ATMAT Sp. Z o.o. (Krakow, Poland).

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture through the Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. under the funding code 2220NR295C.

Source:

Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.

(c) Empa
05.04.2022

In the heat of the wound: Smart bandage

A bandage that releases medication as soon as an infection starts in a wound could treat injuries more efficiently. Empa researchers are currently working on polymer fibers that soften as soon as the environment heats up due to an infection, thereby releasing antimicrobial drugs.

It is not possible to tell from the outside whether a wound will heal without problems under the dressing or whether bacteria will penetrate the injured tissue and ignite an inflammation. To be on the safe side, disinfectant ointments or antibiotics are applied to the wound before the dressing is applied. However, these preventive measures are not necessary in every case. Thus, medications are wasted and wounds are over-treated.

A bandage that releases medication as soon as an infection starts in a wound could treat injuries more efficiently. Empa researchers are currently working on polymer fibers that soften as soon as the environment heats up due to an infection, thereby releasing antimicrobial drugs.

It is not possible to tell from the outside whether a wound will heal without problems under the dressing or whether bacteria will penetrate the injured tissue and ignite an inflammation. To be on the safe side, disinfectant ointments or antibiotics are applied to the wound before the dressing is applied. However, these preventive measures are not necessary in every case. Thus, medications are wasted and wounds are over-treated.

Even worse, the wasteful use of antibiotics promotes the emergence of multi-resistant germs, which are an immense problem in global healthcare. Empa researchers at the two Empa laboratories Biointerfaces and Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles in St. Gallen want to change this. They are developing a dressing that autonomously administers antibacterial drugs only when they are really needed.

The idea of the interdisciplinary team led by Qun Ren and Fei Pan: The dressing should be "loaded" with drugs and react to environmental stimuli. "In this way, wounds could be treated as needed at exactly the right moment," explains Fei Pan. As an environmental stimulus, the team chose a well-known effect: the rise in temperature in an infected, inflamed wound.

Now the team had to design a material that would react appropriately to this increase in temperature. For this purpose, a skin-compatible polymer composite was developed made of several components: acrylic glass (polymethyl methacrylate, or PMMA), which is used, for example, for eyeglass lenses and in the textile industry, and Eudragit, a biocompatible polymer mixture that is used, for example, to coat pills. Electrospinning was used to process the polymer mixture into a fine membrane of nanofibers. Finally, octenidine was encapsulated in the nanofibers as a medically active component. Octenidine is a disinfectant that acts quickly against bacteria, fungi and some viruses. In healthcare, it can be used on the skin, on mucous membranes and for wound disinfection.

Signs of inflammation as triggers
As early as in the ancient world, the Greek physician Galen described the signs of inflammation. The five Latin terms are still valid today: dolor (pain), calor (heat), rubor (redness), tumor (swelling) and functio laesa (impaired function) stand for the classic indications of inflammation. In an infected skin wound, local warmth can be as high as five degrees. This temperature difference can be used as a trigger: Suitable materials change their consistency in this range and can release therapeutic substances.

Shattering glove
"In order for the membrane to act as a "smart bandage" and actually release the disinfectant when the wound heats up due to an infection, we put together the polymer mixture of PMMA and Eudragit in such a way that we could adjust the glass transition temperature accordingly," says Fei Pan. This is the temperature, at which a polymer changes from a solid consistency to a rubbery, toughened state. Figuratively, the effect is often described in reverse: If you put a rubber glove in liquid nitrogen at –196 degrees, it changes its consistency and becomes so hard that you can shatter it like glass with one blow.

The desired glass transition temperature of the polymer membrane, on the other hand, was in the range of 37 degrees. When inflammation kicks in and the skin heats up above its normal temperature of 32 to 34 degrees, the polymer changes from its solid to a softer state. In laboratory experiments, the team observed the disinfectant being released from the polymer at 37 degrees – but not at 32 degrees. Another advantage: The process is reversible and can be repeated up to five times, as the process always "switches itself off" when it cools down. Following these promising initial tests, the Empa researchers now want to fine-tune the effect. Instead of a temperature range of four to five degrees, the smart bandage should already switch on and off at smaller temperature differences.

Smart and unsparing
To investigate the efficacy of the nanofiber membranes against wound germs, further laboratory experiments are now in the pipeline. Team leader Qun Ren has long been concerned with germs that nestle in the interface between surfaces and the environment, such as on a skin wound. "In this biological setting, a kind of no man's land between the body and the dressing material, bacteria find a perfect biological niche," says the Empa researcher. Infectious agents such as staphylococci or Pseudomonas bacteria can cause severe wound healing disorders. It was precisely these wound germs that the team allowed to become acquainted with the smart dressing in the Petri dish. And indeed: The number of bacteria was reduced roughly 1000-fold when octenidine was released from the smart dressing. "With octenidine, we have achieved a proof of principle for controlled drug release by an external stimulus," said Qun Ren. In future, she said, the technology could be applied to other types of drugs, increasing the efficiency and precision in their dosage.

The smart dressing
Empa researchers are working in interdisciplinary teams on various approaches to improve medical wound treatment. For example, liquid sensors on the outside of the dressing are to make it visible when a wound is healing poorly by changing their color. Critical glucose and pH values serve as biomarkers.

To enable bacterial infections to be contained directly in the wound, the researchers are also working on a polymer foam loaded with anti-inflammatory substances and on a skin-friendly membrane made of plant material. The cellulose membrane is equipped with antimicrobial protein elements and kills bacteria extremely efficiently in laboratory tests.

Moreover, digitalization can achieve more economical and efficient dosages in wound care: Empa researchers are developing digital twins of the skin that allow control and prediction of the course of a therapy using real-time modeling.

Further information:
Prof. Dr. Katharina
Maniura Biointerfaces
Phone +41 58 765 74 47
Katharina.Maniura@empa.ch

Prof. Dr. René Rossi
Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles
Phone +41 58 765 77 65
Rene.rossi@empa.ch

Source:

EMPA, Andrea Six