High performance textile materials and added-value fibres

Title:                   High performance textile materials and added-value
fibres
Project funding:   Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports
Code:                  117-1171419-1415
Project Leader:     Prof. Maja Andrassy, Ph.D.

Project Summary:

Contemporary global trends of development in the field of textile fibres and fibrous materials have led to their increased use in various fields of industry and technique. Increase in consupmtion of these types of materials has constantly been recorded and by the beginning of the 21st century technical fibres account for half of all the fibres manufactured. The requirements imposed on fibres and materials in particular fields of application and extraordinary high and specific. These requirements have been met through fibre engineering, i.e. development of new generic types of fibres. It can be assumed that innovative manufacturing and finishing processes, applied to conventional fibres, will result in their added value, so that they can be used to design new fabrics of pre-determined end-use properties. Such improvements in fibre properties and their use in fabric manufacture of added market value and broader scope of application are completely in accordance with the intentions of the European technological platform for future textile and garment, but it can also strongly stimulate the development of Croatian textile industry and its comptetitiveness in the global market. This is supported by the fact that there are considerable research, industrial and raw-material potentials in Croatia, necessary to accomplish the goals. Although domestic production is mostly based on imported fibres, clearly defined modifications of fibre structure and propertties, even for domestic fibres, such as wool, flax, textile regenerates and fibres made from recycled PET, that have been used in Croatian textile industry insufficiently until now, could be used as a starting raw material for the manufacture of high-performance textiles. In this manner, domestic fibrous raw materials would cease being waste material and would become strategic Croatian raw material, as well as a basis of future rational management of natural resources and a step in approaching sustainable development trends, recommended by the European Union and United Nations. The investigations proposed aim at establishing the possibilities of modifying conventional fibres, as well as developing the methods and procedures of objective measurement and evaluation of unconventional textile materials, in accordance with specific rules and requirements for individual types of high-performance textiles, including composites reinforced with fibres of modified properties. The results obtained will offer the construction of high-performance materials based on conventional fibres of added value, as well as the design and optimisation in accordance with the properties of the fibres used and pre-determined high end-use properties.