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Properties and performance of Textiles

Nanotechnology: an emerging textile technology

‘The Nano-Tex shirt: fusing science and fashion’

In the area of study, Properties and Performance of Textiles, you will develop knowledge and understanding of innovations and emerging textile technologies and their applications. In particular you will investigate innovations in textile fibre, yarn and fabrics to enhance performance. This tutorial focuses on the emerging technology of nanotechnology and evaluates the impact of this innovation on fabric performance and its impact on the consumer, society and the environment.

Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcomes:

A student:

H3.1 explains the interrelationship between fabric, yarn and fibre properties
H4.1 justifies the selection of fabric, yarn, fibre and fabric finishing techniques for specific end-uses
H4.2 selects and justifies manufacturing techniques, materials and equipment for specific end-use.

Textiles are all around us every day. Integral to all fabrics are fibres and emerging science and technologies are driving a revolution in new fabrics. Fibres are central to that revolution. New fabrics for the future will be based on fibre developments including nanofibres. There will be endless new applications for these advanced fibre and fabric innovations and they are poised to have a profound impact on the selection of textiles and their end use in the future.

View the current applications for textiles .
Look closely at the end uses for textiles other than apparel.

Visit the CSIRO web site and then select Textiles overview and read about the way the CSIRO is developing new fibres for a range of industry needs, including biomedical.

Defining emerging textile technology
An emerging technology is a technology new to the scientific world and its impact is witnessed later in the marketplace. For example, Nike’s dry-fit suit, Adidas’ fast skin suit and Speedo’s LZR Racer swimsuit. Other examples include the Tracer Rise suit which utilises Rapid Boundary Technology, the fusion of a non-permeable, polyurethane micro-coating to a proprietary lightweight water repellent woven fabric assisting the swimmer with a higher body position in the water and drag reduction. Also nanotechnology which creates at the molecular level, superior properties for traditional fibres such as cotton, expanding exciting new end uses for cotton.

Defining textile innovation
Innovation is a new way of using an existing fibre, yarn or fabric, e.g. microfibre, power stretch garments made from bi-component yarns and side-by-side bicomponent nanofibres where one side of the polymer component dissolves.

Read about nanotechnology and its many applications for the home.

Nanotechnology as an emerging textile technology and an innovation

Nanotechnology is a term that refers to a range of technologies specific to structures and processes on the nanometer scale (1 billion nanometers = 1 metre).

Read the content on this web site to gain an understanding of the nanoworld .

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology in the field of textiles and is literally reshaping fabrics into smart textiles. Nanotechnology concerns the engineering of fabrics at the molecular scale. By manipulating fabrics at such a microscopic scale, scientists are able to make fabrics that have far more desirable properties than the original, unmodified fabric. Nanotechnology is increasingly being used in the field of textiles, to produce fabrics with superior properties as well as textiles and apparel items that are smart and intelligent. With the advent of nanotechnology, a new area of textile finishing called nanofinishing has developed.

Fabrics made of natural fibres such as cotton provide great comfort properties such as absorbency, breathability and softness. However, their end use applications often are limited due to their low wrinkle resistance and low dirt resist. Fabrics made with synthetic fibers are generally much stronger than fabrics of natural fibers but lack the comfort properties of cotton fabrics. Using nanotechnology, it is possible to develop ‘next-generation’ cotton-based fabrics that can complement the advantages of cotton and man-made fibers. This can be accomplished either by blending cotton with special man-made nano-fibers or by treating the yarns or fabrics with modifications at a nano-scale.

Read more about how the unique properties of the Nano-Tex fabric are achieved.

Nanotechnology and the shirt

To examine more closely the impact of nanotechnology on textiles this section of the tutorial will focus on the shirt as an item of apparel.

View the following videos to see the properties of nano textiles:

Resist static

Resist stains

Photo courtesy: http://www.takinoshirt.com/nanotechnology-for-shirts.asp

Visit the following web sites to answer the questions below:

Activity

Justify why the Nano-Tex shirt is an example of a textile innovation.
Answer
Compare and contrast the properties of a 100% cotton shirt and the Nano-Tex shirt.
Answer
Create a list of judgments that evaluate the impact of nanotechnology on textiles.
Answer

Use the following web sites Indian Textile Journal

and Upholstery Journal

to identify the impact of nanotechnology on textiles for the consumer, society and the environment. Record your answers in the table below.

	Impact on the consumer	Impact on society	Impact on the environment
Advantages
Disadvantages

Answer

Tutorial extension

Read further about this emerging technology and its application to textiles:

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