The application of textile in
technical and functional purpose is known as technical textile. It is not used
for aesthetic purposes rather than function that makes it different from other
textiles. Sometimes it is called by smart textile depending on application that
can sense and react to environmental stimuli, which may be mechanical, thermal,
chemical, biological and magnetic amongst others (TAO 2001) These are made with
variety of fibers, filaments, yarns depending on the goal of end product.
Sometimes natural and sometimes synthetic
whatever is more suitable for specific
purpose. The most important thing is technical textile can maintain several
things that traditional textiles can not. However , technical textile does not
mean only yarn –fabric, it can be a dye particle also which is used in
technical purpose.
Nowadays, we are not talking merely of fabrics and textiles imparting information; We are talking about much more. Nor are we referring to fabrics that may have multifunctionl purposes, such as fashion and environmental protection, or rainwear, or those fabrics providing resistance to a plethora of threats, such as ballistic, chemical and flame protection. we are talking here about materials or structures that sense and react to environmental stimuli, such as those from mechanical, thermal, chemical, magnetic or others. We are talking ‘smart’ and ‘active’ systems. We are talking about the true merger of the textile and information industries. Smart textiles’ are made possible due to advances in many technologies.
Technical textile composition by region:
|
COUNTRY |
PERCENTAGE |
|
USA |
23% |
|
WESTERN EUROPE |
22% |
|
CHINA |
13% |
|
JAPAN |
7% |
|
INDIA |
3% |
|
REST OF THE WORLD |
32% |
Chart -1: technical
textile composition by area
Fiber wise
composition of technical textile:
The use of fibers in
technical textile are given below:
|
FIBER |
PERCENTAGE |
|
Polyester
|
25% |
|
Polyolefin
|
25% |
|
Glass |
15% |
|
Jute
,coir |
14% |
|
Cotton
|
7% |
|
Viscose
|
3% |
|
Other
cellulosic fiber |
3% |
|
Polyamide |
7% |
|
Aramid
,carbon and others |
1% |
Chart -2: Fiber wise
composition of technical textile
There are, naturally,
many more applications for ‘smart’ textiles than those applied to military
personnel, or civilian police, firemen, and emergency responders. Mountain
climbers, sports personnel, businessmen with built-in wearable microcomputers,
and medical personnel will all benefit from this revolution in textiles.
Promotion of technology for
textiles:
The nature is the main inspiration in order to create our clothing materials
with higher levels of functions and smartness. The development of microfibres
is a very good example, starting from studying and mimicking silk first, then
creating finer and, in many ways, better fibres. However, up to now,most
textiles and clothing have been lifeless. It would be wonderful to have clothing
like our skin, which is a layer of smart material. The skin has sensors which
can detect pressure, pain, temperature, etc. Together with our brain, it can
function intelligently with environmental stimuli.
Fibres used in technical textile:
There are both natural and synthetic fibres used in technical purpose depending on end purpose. Here is some top applied fibres:
- Polyethylene
- Polyester
- Nylon
- Carbon
- Polypropylene
- Aramid
- Metal
- Glass
- Ceramic
- Nano fibres
- Piezoelectric fibres etc.
Ultimate areas of technical textiles:
The leading international trade exhibition
for technical textiles – Techtextil (http://
techtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/willkommen.html) – defines
11 main application areas.The area of application of technical textile which paves
the way for future textile are broadly discussed below:
1. Protech – Innovations in personal and property protection. To apply textile technology in protective fabric( protective textiles) for increasing work safety ,normally said as PPE(Personal protective equipment).these are used in:
- Water and wind resistant clothing
- Heat and flame resistant clothing
- Antimicrobial clothing
- Radiant heat protective clothing
- Chemicals protective clothing
- Fire fighter suits
- Biohazard Survival Suit
- Bomb Disposal Suit
- Environment Suit
- Blast suits
- Extreme Environmental Clothing
- Army Combat Shirt
- High-visibility (HV) Clothing
- Anti-Static Clothing
- Industrial Work wear;
- Lifejacket (Personal Flotation Device)
- Motorcycle Personal Protective Clothing
- NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical
- Clean room Suit
- Arc Flash Protection Clothing
- Racing (Race Car Driver’s) Suit
- Flight Suit
Figure-3: Structure of water proof breathable garment, fireproof garment,
spacesuit and bulletproof vast.
2.Buildtech –To applys textile
technology in constraction work(geo textiles) such as road construction, dam
construction, soil sealing, drainage system etc. Sometimes it is thought as
construction textiles.Textile products for membrane construction, lightweight
and solid structures, earthworks, hydraulic engineering, and road construction.
Nowadays we are most focused in more sunlight, greener, high performance, cost
saving and sustainable structure.To fulfill that requirements textile play a
fundamental role.Due to special properties like high strength ,modulus,
elongation, flexibility etc textile is used in civil engineering.
Another term is Geotextile which is
used in contact with soil and other materials in geotechnical and civil
engineering. Any permeable textile material used for filtration, drainage,
separation, reinforcement and stabilization purpose as an integral part of
civil engineering structures of earth, rock,other constructional materials.
Some fibres used in geo textiles are : Ramie ,Jute ,Coir ,Polyester ,Polyamides ,Aramid ,Polyethylene ,Polyvinyl chloride,HDPE,PET
3. Clothtech – To apply textile
technology in clothing applications like Innovations in shoe and clothing
manufacture. Can you think what would happen if your dress can recognize your
body health and your position ?However, wearable technology is making headlines
nowadays: smart watches and health trackers are so 2014;wearable fashion tech is
all the range. If you want to get in on the wearable trend ,forget about
getting the latest apple watch. Smart clothing is the next wave of disruptive
technology that is woven into our daily fabrics-literally so.
The interest in wearable fashion tech
goes beyond wrist-worn accessories.Like superman who gains superpower from his
magic cape,smart garments can empower us all around to give us superpower .The
same chips and sensors that powered smartwatches can be embedded in
fabrics,which is what made the garmentssmart .Because they are in close contact
with our skin-the largestorgan of body.the embedded smart tags and sensors are
getting thinner and more invisible.Recently, smart clothing makers such as
Primo 1D have developed e-thread with ultra high frequency RFID directly woven
into the fabrics.
Not surprisingly, many smart clothes
are focused on monitoring and improving sports performance. For instance, smart
shirts and shorts have the capacity to accurately track real time health data
such as heart rate ,movement, respiration, breathing etc.
Smart sleep wear helps a person to
sleep properly .The garment has bioceramic particles woven into its fabric, which
helps to absorb infrared weave lengths and helps to reduce inflammation while
an athlete is sleeping.
Figure-5:
Wearable technology/Cloth Tech
4. Hometech – To apply textile
technology in domestic environment such as carpeting ,decoration, wall
coverings , curtains,cuhion covers,pillowcases blanket ,Innovations in the
manufacture of furniture, upholstery, floor coverings, and carpets etc.
However, the global home textile market
demand is expected to reach 160+ billion dollars by 2025.
The most recent research in home
textile is antibacterial coating on fabric which helps to keep safe from germs.
Mainly on bed sheet ,towel, pillow cover which have much possibility of getting attack of bacteria or
germs. For this purpose ,the fabric is treated with antibacterial agents .As a
result , the antimicrobial agent chemically bind on the surface of treated
fabric and do not detach from surface by its own. Microbes are killed by agent
when become in contact with treated
fabric.
Moreover ,a new research finds
that towel which changes its color
itself when it get dirt and affected by bacteria.
Figure-6:
technology in home textile
5. Sportech – To apply of textile technology in sport
instruments(sports textiles) such as
shoes, special dressup, sport bags, climbing, angling, cycling etc. Foe fulfilling this purpose ,textile must
have some properties .such as: comport ability, easy to wear, easy handling ,high
electrical conductivity, light weight, wicking properties, elastic properties,
much strength etc.
Some area of application of sport textiles are swimming costume, artificial turfs, sleeping bags ,ballooning and parachute fabrics ,sports footwear etc.
6. Medtech – To applytextile
technology in medical life(medical textiles) such as first aid, clinical,
hygienic purpose. Medical textiles are an important part of the large variety of
technical textile products, ranging from high volume disposable products for
baby dispwes, feminine hygiene, specialized and high-value textile products for
use in blood filtration ,surgical sutures, prostheses and scaffolds for new
tissue growth.
The most innovative use of textile in medical is artificial body tissue ,joint, ligament and organ(liver, kidney, lungs, heart, bone, etc).
Here some more applications of medical textile. such as:
- Skin closure tape
- Allograft skin tissue processing
- Urinary incontinence sling
- Pacemaker lead anchor
The recent research has created flexible yarn from human skin cells, which can be knitted ,crocheted or weaved into unique patterns for medical purpose. The threads can be used in surgery to help treat animals and humans. Scientists say it will not be rejected by the immune system of the recipient. Cells called fibroblasts from an animal can be used to make sheets of skins in a lab. Already the French researchers have used the material in operation on animals and say it could be used to make 'Human textiles' for tissue grafts or organ repair in the furture.
According to CNN health, a group of researchers has come up with a unique form of yarn made up of human skin cells that could soon replace conventional sutures in surgical procedures.
Figure-8: Yarn made from human cells used in human textiles
7. Agrotech – To apply textile
products for agriculture,aquaculture,forestry, horticulture, and landscape
gardening with the aim of improving yield, efficiency and profitability.Agrotextile
include use of plant net,sunscreen,bird protection net,ground cover,mulch
mat,monofil net,anti-hailstone net,harvesting net,wind shield,root ball
net,insect meshes,weed control gabric,net and ground cover made of polyolefin
as well as jute,wool fibres. Moreover, crop production, cattle
breeding,regulate nutrient level intake of plants and assist the process.
It can be used in fishing industry in
the form of nets,ropes and lines,to prevent the soil from drying out increase
crop yield, to protect farmer from harmful pesticides, to improve product
quality, to save energy in field as possible as , to thermal protection, to
prevent insect contact with food or crop and to reduce workers and work load.
Some properties that is required for
agrotextile product are: tensile strength. Withstands solar radiation,
withstands uv radiation, bio degradability, abrasion resistance,high potential
to retain water, protection property, resistance to microorganism, lightweight
etc.
8. Oeko-tex – To appliy textile in
environmental protection (ecological protection textile) such as preventing
soil erosion ,water pollution, waste recycling etc. It Is also called
ecological textile.
It is used in the landfill waste management which refers to use of geo-systhetic products to secure landfills against leakage of municipal or hazardous waste. It can be used in the secondary protection in chemical /oil industries(ground covers and like around processes tanks for secondary containment). Floor sealing erosion protection, air cleaning, prevention of water pollution, water cleaning, waste treatment, despositing area construction, production extraction ,domestic water sewerage plants.
Figure-10:
Textile in environment protection
Some eco friendly textile fibers are:
- Organic cotton, organic wool, organic silk, hemp
- Man made soya bean, Lyocell;
- Recycled cotton, recycled wool
- Naturally colored cotton
9. Mobiltech –To apply textiles for ship and aerospace construction as well as automotive, railway,space travel and many more high tech –high performance application.
Automobile is the largest area of that
which controls followings: seats, seat covers, seat belts, air bag, door
casings, parcel shelves, dashboard, knee air bag, sun visors, luggage nettings,
carpets, air filters, oil filters, battery separator, hood liners etc. Moreover
,nylon tyre cord, helmets, airline disposables are also part of mobiltech.
The most recent use is in the construction of car and aircraft material with carbon fibre composite. Because of carbon fibre having light weight, high tensile strength, high chemical resistance, high stiffness,EM transparent, low thermal expansion and low weight properties. A carbon fibre has a lot of good properties which makes it a very good material for different industries to use.Here is on right a graph showing the stiffness/strength of a carbon fibre with respect to its density.
10. Indutech – To apply textile
technology in chemical and electrical applications(industrial textiles)such as
filtration, seals, plasma screes, melting process ,Products for mechanical
engineering and for chemical and electrical industries etc. specific products
under indutech include filters, wipes, felts and three dimensional textile
products. The textile includes ropes, which occupy the prime position in the
market and are used in shipping, ports, oil
rigs, and defense areas. Computer printer ribbons and computer printer
refills are indutech products that are made up of acrylic butadiene styrene and
are expected to grow rapidly in the market due to the excessive rate of
computerization. Market for wet filtration filter cloth,made of iindutech woven
and non woven materials is also expected to increase gradually.
Figure-13: Technical textile in industry
11. Packtech – Innovations in packaging, covering, and transportation. To ensure scratch free and safe handling of sensitive articles textile partitioned boxes are an ideal option.
Some products of packtech are:
- Woven sacks of polyolefin
- FIBC (flexible intermediate bulk containers)
- Leno bags
- Wrapping fabric
- Kute hessain and sacks
- Tea bags
- Soft luggage products
The future of technical textiles includes a much wider economic sphere of activity than only the direct manufacturing and processing of textiles: Technical and performance textiles represent an emerging generation of products combining the latest developments in advanced flexible materials with advances in computing and communications technology, biomaterials, nanotechnology, and novel process technologies.
Many exciting applications have been demonstrated worldwide. Extended from the space programme, heat generating/storing fibres/fabrics have now been used in skiwear, shoes, sports helmets and insulation devices. Textile fabrics and composites integrated with optical fibre sensors have been used to monitor the health of major bridges and buildings. From decades ,the area of textile is increasing and the area of research also spreading. Some area of future reseach for technological textile or smart textile are:
Figure-14:
The future fabric; will be able to change own colour and design
- At first the consideration about water will be thought. Because 1 kg cotton production costs 29,000 liters of water not to mention the chemicals used for farming ,cleaning, and dyeing of fabrics. That is why is it no longer late to produce colourful cotton by genetic modification.
- The yarn will be smart yarn by which all the function of a smart watch can be done.
- To colour the synthetic textile materials, a new process of dyeing named spray dyeing will be developed soon which will reduce the amount of dye during dyeing.
- Digital printing methods have been developed to produce jeans wear that look worn instead of the dyeing and stone washing of conventional manufacturing.
- Smart textiles for smart home control and enriching future wireless sensor network data.
However last but not least, technical
textile is going to be a blessing for our future life and something special is
coming which will take us beyond every limites.
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