1. Lesson 8 Julie Boyd Consulting Editor: Jenny Ridgwell
Series Editor: Louise T Davies
Lesson 8
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2. New materials and components
Learning ladder
You must:
identify a range of new materials and components and describe the difference between the various categories.
compare new materials and components with traditional ones.
You should:
contribute to a team research product.
be able to present information to a group.
You could :
be able to predict future developments.
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3. Introduction
Can you identify the specialist textiles materials that are used in these images?
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4. New materials and components
New and emerging technologies are being developed all the time. Many are developed by groups such as NASA or the army for high performance use. This means they can be used in unusual and extreme conditions but many of the new technologies often find their way onto the high street eventually.
Many new materials have been ‘engineered’ to behave in a particular way, which means they have been designed by man to have particular high end performance properties.
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5. Industrial and technical textiles
The way modern textiles materials are used has changed a lot and in many cases they can now compete with traditional materials.
New textiles materials are regularly used in industrial and technical situations because their flexibility, weight and strength are superior to those of traditional materials.
Examples of industrial textiles include those used to build roads and railways, insulation, tyres, filters, temporary buildings structures, banners, packaging materials.
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6. Aramid fibres – Kevlar
Aramid is the name given to new textiles fibres in the nylon family. These are made from petrochemicals in the same way as nylon but they are engineered to have high performance properties.
Kevlar is five times stronger than steel. It also has the advantage of being lightweight as well as flame and chemical resistant. It is used for a variety of industrial and technical uses, e.g. bullet proof vests, tyres, cables, skis, aircraft petrol tank linings.
Source: www2.dupont.com/Kevlar/en_US/index.html
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7. Source: www2.dupont.com/Nomex/en_US/
Aramid fibres – Nomex
Nomex is highly fire and chemical retardant as well as being lightweight, strong and good for electrical insulation.
Its main uses are industrial and technical, e.g. fire-fighters’ clothing, racing drivers’ suits, transport furnishings (especially aircraft) and high specification performance wear.
Source: www2.dupont.com/Nomex/en_US/
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8. Carbon fibre (1)
Carbon fibre is an industrial and technical fibre made from carbon that is usually used as a composite material. This means it begins as a soft material but is coated with epoxy resin which turns it into a hard material that can compete with metals.
It is very strong but also very lightweight and has a high resistance to fire and chemicals.
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9. Carbon fibre (2)
The original fabric can be woven or stitch bonded depending on the end use. One of its advantages over metals is that it can be cut and moulded into shape easily before it is hardened.
Carbon fibre is very expensive to use. As a soft fabric it can be used for protective clothing and transport upholstery and as a composite it is used for tennis rackets, F1 car bodies, rocket motors.
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10. Glass fibre (1)
Glass fibre is an industrial and technical fibre made from glass and is often used as a composite material. This means it begins as soft material and is coated with epoxy resin turning it into a hard material.
Glass fibre is strong, shatterproof, resists heat and cold, resists chemicals, and has good electrical properties.
The original fabric can be woven or stitch bonded depending on the end use. One of its advantages over metals is that it can be cut and moulded into shape easily before it is hardened.
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11. Glass fibre (2)
As a soft fabric it can be used for protective clothing and building insulation. As a composite it is used for roof coverings, car bodies.
Thin fibres of glass can be made into fibre optics. These allow images and information to be transmitted down the fibre over long distances with limited reduction in the brightness. They are used in communications systems.
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12. Reflective textiles (1)
Minute glass beads can be embedded into fabrics, yarns, dyes and coatings to make them reflective.
When bright lights are shone on them the fabrics reflect light back into the viewer’s eye, especially in darker conditions.
Light can be reflected up to a 100m and the effect also works under water.
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13. Reflective textiles (2)
Morphex is a new multi-layered fibre that copies the structure of a butterfly’s wing and reflects light. Prismatic, Scotchlite, Retroglo and Reflec are brand names for high visibility fabrics and films.
Reflective fabrics are used a lot for protective clothing and sportswear.
Note that reflective textiles are not smart materials as they do not change in any way.
Source:
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14. Medical textiles
New textiles materials are now being used regularly in medicine. Many are naturally anti-bacterial and are more easily accepted by the body than traditional materials.
Knitting is often used to produce arteries, veins, implants and other medical textiles products. Industrial embroidery machines are also often used to produce medical textiles.
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15. Medical textiles and silver
Silver is naturally anti-bacterial and promotes healing. It also helps regulate body temperature and is cool when the wearer is warm and vice versa.
Silver yarns can be knitted or woven into fabrics to enhance their anti-bacterial properties. These fabrics can be made into pyjamas, bedding, clothing, curtains and so on, for use in hospitals or where there are possible infections.
X-static is a fibre made from silver that has been bonded onto a core fibre.
Sources:
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16. Other uses of textiles in medicine
Medicines micro-encapsulated into fabrics
Anti-bacterial fabrics and finishes
Chitosan and Chitopoly – fabric made from crushed shrimps and crabs that soothes eczema
Electronics built into clothes to measure heart rate
Smart dyes that indicate changes in body heat
Barrier fabrics used for uniforms
Biodegradable fabrics for stitches and implants
Calcium alginate fibre, extracted from seaweed, is used to make highly absorbent dressings that absorb 20 times their weight in moisture and don’t stick to the wound.
Source:
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17. Microfibres (1)
Microfibres are made from nylon or Polyester but can be combined with other fibres.
They are engineered to be 60 times finer than a human hair.
This means these fibres can mimic the properties of natural fibres and breathability properties are also added.
They are often used for underwear and sportswear.
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18. Microfibres (2)
Microfibre fabrics are naturally lightweight and are closely knitted or woven and have as many as 200,000 fibres per square. This makes them drape well and they are often used for clothing.
Microfibres fabrics can be used for home cleaning products that can clean without chemicals. The microfibres make the cloths super absorbent and their static properties attract dirt.
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19. Tactel
Tactel is the name of an Aramid microfibre known for its outstanding softness (its name comes from the Latin word for ‘I touch’).
It is also known for being extremely lightweight, breathable and waterproof. The fibres have the highest strength to weight ratio of any artificial or natural fibre.
Initially Tactel was used for ski wear and quickly became the dominant fibre used in this area but now there are many Tactel fibres that can be used for a wide range of uses.
Tactel Aquator is knitted as a two-sided construction with cotton on the outside and Tactel inside. It is used for sportswear and underwear.
Source:
© Folens 2009

20. Smart/intelligent textiles
Many new materials and components are considered ‘smart’ or ‘intelligent’.
This means they can react to the environment around them, e.g. change colour with heat or light, react to sound, release smells, change their shape or properties.
Look at Unit 7 on ‘Fabric finishes’ for information on ‘smart’ fabric finishes such as micro-encapsulation.
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21. Memory foam
Memory foam is a ‘smart’ material that is temperature sensitive. It is made from millions of microscopic memory pockets that slowly react to body heat and weight. It yields slowly under compression and moulds to the body shape evenly distributing a load. When the load is removed the foam recovers slowly.
Memory  foam was developed for astronauts and is now used by hospitals for its abilities or relieve pressure sores, improve circulation and give the correct alignment of the spine when lying down.
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22. Thermochromic and photochromic dyes
These are ‘smart’ dyes that react to heat (thermochromic) or UV light (photochromic) by changing colour.
They are used for fun fashion products and can also be used medically to indicate temperature changes or as a sun warning in children’s clothing.
The dyes can be used on fabrics, in sewing threads and in beads.
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23. Thermochromic liquid crystal fabric
This is a black fabric that has minute capsules of liquid crystal ink that change colour with heat.
It can be used as a simple health check to enable body temperature to be ‘seen’.
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24. Phosphorescent dyes
Jellyfish, glow worms and fireflies have natural phosphorescence and use this to attract a mate.
In textiles phosphorescence is a ‘smart’ pigment that soaks up invisible forms of energy and transforms them into visible light. The pigment can be made into dyes and coatings for fabrics and threads.
Used in a range of clothing and novelty products, e.g. t-shirts, bedding, footwear.
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25. Electronic textiles
Electronic textiles are ‘smart’ as they have fibres that conduct electricity or small micro-electronic modules incorporated into a product.
These modules can be linked to sound, light or other electronic functions.
These products are often called wearable electronics or e-fabrics/e-garments and they often use ‘soft-switches’ that are electronic control switches that are integrated into the fabric.
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26. Breathable fabrics (1)
Breathable fabrics are ‘smart’ as they react to temperature.
When the temperature rises the fibre expands, which allows air in and moisture out.
This process is called ‘wicking’.
When the temperature falls the fibres close up so the body stays warm.
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27. Breathable fabrics (2)
When we get hot we sweat and our clothing soaks up the moisture. The wet fabric often sticks to our skin and this reduces evaporation and makes us feel uncomfortable. Natural fibres are all breathable but don’t allow the body moisture to evaporate quickly enough. Synthetic breathable fabrics have the added advantage that as well as being breathable they are also waterproof
Breathable fabrics are often used in underwear, sportswear and footwear to make products feel more comfortable to wear.
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28. Different ways of producing breathable fabrics
Tightly woven/knitted microfibre fabrics create breathable fabrics.
Use of a micro-porous membrane (a layer of film thinner than cling film full of tiny holes) such as GORE-TEX. The holes are tiny enough to allow body moisture to evaporate but too small to allow rain molecules through the fabric. A disadvantage of this system is that the pores can get blocked with dirt and the membrane becomes less effective.
Use of membranes such as SympaTex and Permatex which have no pores but which use a chemical reaction to diffuse the moisture away from the body.
Note – GORE-TEX, SympaTex and Permatex are not fabric finishes. The membrane is usually laminated or transfer coated between layers of fabric.
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29. Breathable fabrics www.gore-tex.co.uk www.sympatex.com
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30. Another breathable fabric – CoolMax
CoolMax is a high performance polyester fabric that is ‘smart’ and breathable.
It is engineered to have fibres that have micro channels that move sweat away from the body to the outer layer of the fabric, where it dries faster than any other fabric (completely dry in 30 minutes).
It is used for sportswear, underwear and so on.
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31. Laminating fabrics (1)
GORE-TEX® and SympaTex membranes are laminated between layers of fabric and are not used on their own.
Laminated fabrics are made up from two or more layers of different fabrics and are often used to combine fabrics of different properties.
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32. Laminating fabrics (2)
Fabrics are held together by glue or by the thermoplastic qualities of one or both of the materials. Transfer coating can also be used where the membrane or fabric is applied to paper first and then heat transferred.
Another example is a wipe-clean table cloth made from PVC, laminated onto a cotton backing.
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33. Biomimetics – Speedo Fastskin
Biomimetics literally means ‘imitating a living bio-system’. It is the science of studying how nature works, e.g. how pine cones respond to heat, how birds use feathers to keep warm.
Speedo ‘Fastskin’ is a knitted swimsuit/wetsuit fabric first used at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The fabric is based on the skin of a shark and copies the way the surface of the skin allows water to travel over it aerodynamically.
The garment is also designed to apply pressure on muscle groups to help the wearer save energy and give a maximum performance.
Both the garment design and fabric for Speedo Fastskin are ‘smart’.
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34. Biomimetics – Stomatex
Stomatex is a ‘smart’ neoprene fabric that mimics the way a plant passes water vapour from inside a leaf into the atmosphere.
Trapped vapour molecules are removed from next to the skin by the flexing of the dome shapes on the fabric which have a small hole in the centre from where perspiration is released.
This removes perspiration and keeps the body at an even temperature.
The fabric can be used for wetsuits, sportswear, medical supports.
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35. Other new fibres – biofibres
Biofibres are fibres engineered from agricultural crops such as corn, sugar, wheat, seaweed, and so on.
As they are grown, they are from a renewable and sustainable source and are biodegradable.
The disadvantage is that some fibres have a short life span. Also some people feel that foodstuffs should not be used for fibres because there are people for whom food is in limited supply.
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36. Other new fibres – bamboo & spacer fabric
Bamboo is a quick growing plant that doesn’t need pesticides and fertilizers, and it improves the quality of the soil as it grows. As a fibre it is very soft, very absorbent, naturally anti- bacterial, breathable and biodegradable.
Spacer fabrics are double-layered 3D fabrics with a cushion of air and ‘spring-like’ yarns between the two sides. They are knitted in one continuous operation so that the layers can’t be separated. The fabrics are shock absorbing, breathable and washable, and are used in healthcare, cars, fashion, footwear and furnishings.
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37. Cushion with electronic push button light
Task 3: design and make
Use a range of technical and smart materials and components to design and make a product that could be sold in a gift shop.
Cushion with electronic push button light
Door hanger with electronic sound module and smart puff dye (design also includes use of transfer paper, reflective tape and CAM embroidery)
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38. Nanotechnology (1)
Nanotechnology is the ‘science of the tiny’ and it was pioneered by the aerospace industry where size and weight are very important. It is the ability to manipulate materials and systems on a nanoscale (1/100,000th of the width of a human hair).
Nano fibres are tiny molecules one billionth of a metre in size. They can’t be seen by an ordinary microscope and specialist tools have to be used to manipulate them. An area of fabric the size of a football pitch can be folded into something the size of a sugar cube. Nanotechnology enables us to make things on a very small scale making it easier to make products smaller, lighter, faster and more efficient.
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39. Nanotechnology (2)
In particular, nanotechnology has been used in textiles to develop breathable membranes for sports clothing, industrial filters and to increase the stain and water repellence of a fabric as well as improve its crease resistance where tiny molecules permanently attach themselves to fibres without clogging the weave.
© Folens 2009