Specialty Fabrics Review December 2022 - 27

3D TEXTILES
A plan for achieving circularity
T
he question of achieving circularity was at the heart of several
presentations at Expo's Advanced Textiles Conference this
year. Ben Mead, managing director, Hohenstein Institute America,
explained Hohenstein's program for helping companies establish
a process toward achieving circularity. Mead started with the
sobering fact that the textiles industry is not doing enough to
reduce its environmental impact, and water risks are increasing,
with a 21% increase projected from the period 2015 to 2025.
To help companies work towards a more sustainable future,
Hohenstein has developed an " impact calculator, " a tool within its
STeP certification program that's designed to measure both carbon
footprint and water footprint. Mead notes that STeP (Sustainable
Textile (& Leather) Production) is " holistic, modular and includes
continuous improvement. "
I
n the session " 3D Printing and Advanced Textiles:
Disrupting the industry, " Colton Mehlhoff of Stratasys
HQ offered examples of how 3D printing is changing
the textile world. From 3D-printed dresses to
handbags and shoes, designers are finding ingenious
applications for this technology. Almost all types of
fabric can be 3D-printed on except leather and vinyl,
as the ink must adhere to fibers.
New 3D printers have many more nozzles for
extremely high resolution. UV curing is then used to set
the ink. The end result is extremely rigid, but also very
durable, to the point of being machine washable. The
ink can also be printed in various densities or with air
pockets that would allow for electronic devices to be
wired into the fabric.
SUSTAINABILITY AND NONWOVENS
Improving PPE
n his presentation, Tom Daugherty, deputy director of the
Nonwovens Institute (NWI) at North Carolina State University,
began with a startling statistic: 80% of consumer goods-excluding
packaging-are disposed of after a single use. It is among the
range of sustainability issues that require comprehensive action.
" It has to be a multidimensional approach, " he says. " It can't
I
be just one thing. "
The National Academies have issued a challenge to design a future
without pollution or waste, which requires a new paradigm, he says.
The recommendations include:
* Redesigning products and their production processes for
resource efficiency, longevity, reuse, repair and recycling
while minimizing pollution.
* Quantifying and documenting life-cycle consequences associated
with commonly used products, and the costs and benefits of
alternative approaches to reduce pollution and waste.
* Quantifying waste-stream characteristics and identifying ways
to reuse or recover materials.
* Identifying products that could be manufactured with recycled
and reused materials.
* Developing new resources-recovery technologies and processes for
cost-effective recovery of materials and energy from the waste stream.
In the world of nonwovens-and particularly considering
disposables-that's no small matter.
ealth-care and emergency workers urgently
need personal bioprotective equipment that
is reusable, antiviral and biodegradable-with
reduced environmental impact. In a session titled
" Development of Environmentally Friendly Biological
Protective Textiles, " Dr. Gang Sun, a professor of fiber
and polymer sciences at the University of California-
Davis, discussed how advances in textile technology
have created new biological protective functions on
biobased polymers.
Pathogens can survive on material surfaces
for hours and days, Sun says. Biostatic textiles,
such as those used in surgical gowns, drapes and
face masks, can prevent penetration of liquids
but can still transmit pathogens through surface
contacts. Sun says new biocidal PPE products
have an active substance that quickly kills a
broad spectrum of pathogens, including bacteria,
yeasts, fungi and viruses. Importantly, with the
use of chemical agents like N-halamine and
daylight photosensitizers, this protection can be
" recharged " after repeated use to restore their
effectiveness.
SpecialtyFabricsReview.com 27
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Specialty Fabrics Review December 2022

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