Advanced Textiles – Page 2 – Specialty Fabrics Review

New smart fabrics and protective gear innovations keep first responders safer

December 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles

First responders—from firefighters to law enforcement to emergency medical services technicians—need to be ready to handle any situation they encounter, and they need the appropriate gear to respond quickly to emergencies. Responders draw on their experience to make sound decisions in the chaos …

Early adopters affect product development

November 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

IoClothes describes itself as “A Community Fusing Tech & Textiles™” that exists to support those who innovate in the smart textile industry by providing information and helping them to establish the right connections to move forward. Managing director Ben Cooper says, “About 30–40 perc…

Incorporating new materials into composites

October 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

In material science, strength alone is often found to have its limitations; a combination of hard and soft, rigid and flexible is an area of increasing interest for a wide range of applications from construction, to sports equipment, to protective apparel. Composites bring together two or more mater…

Textile-based robots

September 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

A Harvard collaboration develops soft, wearable robotics for hands. Soft, wearable robotics is an emerging field that looks at methods of enabling functional, powered support to assist human movements using lightweight, low-profile and flexible materials such as textiles. A diverse team of researche…

Textile-based bio materials mend bodies

July 30, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

Textile-based biomaterials, or biotextiles, have the longest history in the field of biomaterials. In ancient China and Egypt as far back as 2000 B.C., natural fibers such as linen, silk, bark, horsehair and dried guts were used as suture materials for wound closure. The introduction of steel wire a…

New technologies make textiles interactive and smarter

July 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

Textiles are well established as passive materials offering comfort and protection, as well as design and fashion choices. With strong interest in promoting textile manufacturing and enhancing the utility and performance of textiles, academia and government researchers have initiated efforts to enab…

Redefining textiles

June 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

New materials and manufacturing processes give the word “textile” new meaning. Textile technology is undergoing a revolution, with innovative structures, raw materials and manufacturing platforms creating new fabrics that defy old-school definitions. Introductory textile science classes teach th…

Developing NASA’s next-generation spacesuit

May 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

Human space exploration is one of the most ambitious and exciting endeavors upon which we’ve ever embarked, and it has always been an integral part of the U.S. space program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sent our first astronaut, Alan Shepard, on a suborbital flight in …

Academia and business forge new alliances

April 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

From small startups to global companies, academia and business forge alliances. Early in 2018, Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corp. and North Carolina State University (NC State) announced a strategic, multi-year partnership to “support student development at NC State and advance apparel and textiles i…

IPC committee seeks comments on e-textiles industry standard

March 1, 2018 | Advanced Textiles, Markets

In July 2017, IPC (Association Connecting Electronics Industries) hosted the first web meeting of the IPC E-Textiles Materials Subcommittee. Formed by volunteers from the e-textiles community, the group had approached IPC with interest in developing industry standards for e-textiles. IPC was chosen …

Category: Advanced Textiles