Innovating Textiles

PAC

30 Years of Innovating and Adapting

Our Textile Protection and Comfort Center (TPACC) operates at the crossroads of academia, government and industry. Researchers at TPACC test and improve the performance of functional fabrics, whether that’s personal protective equipment (PPE) for the military and first responders or athletic gear. TPACC also plays a valuable role in developing standards for internationally-recognized standards organizations like ASTM, the National Fire Protection Association, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and the International Organization for Standardization.

Introducing a New and Improved PyroMan

For more than 30 years, TPACC researchers have tested firefighter suits and other thermal wear with the help of a life-size manikin known as “PyroMan.” Its successor – “Dynamic PyroMan” – can move, allowing researchers to test a whole new dimension of PPE’s performance among the flames.

Testing Military and Fire Fighting Gear for Women Who Serve

The number of women holding roles in the armed forces and fire services grows each year, but research about the comfort and performance of their gear is still lacking. Studies show at least 80% of female firefighters experience problems with improperly fitting PPE, leading to both discomfort and safety concerns. TPACC’s newest sweating manikin is specifically designed and shaped to test women’s garments, enabling our college to play a key role in leveling the playing field for female first responders.

Establishing a Green Textile Economy Through Partnerships with Industry and the NSF

Up to $160 million over 10 years.

Developing innovative materials and sustainable manufacturing processes will usher in an economic boom for North Carolina and other parts of the rural Southeastern United States. That’s the goal of the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine, funded by the National Science Foundation.

The Wilson College of Textiles is leading the research and development for the Engine in partnership with a regional nonprofit with collaboration from other regional partners in industry and education.

Our faculty’s interdisciplinary expertise is vital to accomplishing this complex goal. Current researcher initiatives include: • Innovating hemp processing and hemp yarn development, • Developing biobased yarns, • 3D bioprinting using cellulose waste, • Utilizing hemp for wound-healing textiles, and • Advancing recycling and sorting technologies.

These scientific advances in textiles, when translated into commercial products and combined with workforce development, have the potential to transform the region’s existing textile corridor into a high-tech materials hub that benefits our economy, community and planet.

Engineering Fiber Robots to Improve Quality of Life

NSF

The very nature of textiles opens up a whole new realm of wearable applications for actuators (the part of a machine that makes it operate). By adjusting the makeup of the fiber, the woven or knit structures of the fabric, and the type of force input, Assistant Professor Xiaomeng Fang’s lab can execute a unique amount of control over the motion of the devices they develop. The focus of Fang’s innovations — including an origami robot for drug delivery and a mechanized leg brace for users who are unable to bend their knees — is on enhancing quality of life.

Developing Better Manufacturing Methods for Wound Closures Barbed sutures were invented more than 30 years ago and have a variety of benefits for surgical patients. However, the current cost of these wound closures deters most surgeons from using them. Ph.D. student Karuna Nambi-Gowri seeks to change that by developing a faster and cheaper process for fabricating the same quality of barbed sutures.

Finding New Ways to Decrease Textile Waste Lower quality cotton textile waste must be broken down into fragments before it can be reused. In Associate Professor Sonja Salmon’s lab, researchers are finding that enzymes are a greener way to break down that cotton.

Their investigation into the resulting cotton fragments provides key information for both scientists and members of the textile manufacturing industry.

First, researchers identified and categorized the properties of various resulting cotton fiber fragments. This allowed them to propose potential applications for these fragments that can be investigated in future research.

Salmon’s lab has also identified how the dye used on a cotton fabric can impact its fragments once it has been broken down for recycling. These findings empower eco-conscious members of the textile industry to make more informed decisions.

Using Textiles for Carbon Capture Salmon’s lab is also applying textile knowledge to help protect our planet through carbon capture. Cotton fabric and an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase are the key components in a filter designed for use at power plants (one of the main sources of carbon-dioxide emissions). Initial testing shows this filter can absorb carbon dioxide from air and gas mixtures at promising rates. Researchers also believe this technology has greater potential to reach the scale needed compared to other potential methods of carbon capture because it could be made in a traditional textile manufacturing center. Their next task will be figuring out how to make the regeneration energy for the solution used with the filter as low as possible.

Using Machine Learning to Create a Fabric-based Touch Sensor In the future, our clothing will have the capacity to use mobile apps, enter login information and play video games.

Assistant Professor Rong Yin is shaping that future with his development of embroidery-based sensors that can be integrated into fabric.

These sensors are self-powered by the friction produced by the device’s different layers. Through this research, Yin is also identifying the challenges that will need to be addressed to scale up these applications of wearable technology.

Using Dyes to Research Degenerative Diseases

Associate Professor Nelson Vinueza knows dyes have the power to do much more than add color to makeup and textiles. He uses dyes as clues to unlock valuable findings in health, sustainability and forensics. The Wilson College’s Max A. Weaver Dye Library is a one-of-a-kind treasure trove of such clues. Using this resource, Vinueza is partnering with the National Institutes of Health and scientists from the University of California at San Francisco to identify potential treatments for degenerative diseases such as cataracts.

Taking a Systems Approach to Sustainability Research

Professor Karen Leonas prides herself in actionable research that is ready for real-world applications.

Two of her current projects tackle some of the most pressing textile-related issues in sustainability: the push towards a circular economy and microfiber pollution. In a circular economy, postconsumer textiles are recycled or broken down for reuse in new products. Through her role in the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine, Leonas is determining the most efficient way to sort post-consumer textiles at scale to ready them for recycling.

While microfiber pollution is hardly a new topic, most existing research, Leonas says, has been conducted without the input of textile scientists. She’s changing that through a study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association that aims to develop and test a filter for microfiber pollution.

Developing Wearable Connectors to Help Doctors and Soldiers Textile-integrated wearable connectors are a unique, high-tech sort of “bridge” between flexible textiles and external electronic devices. Researchers at the Wilson College are working to improve these connectors’ Technology Readiness Level — a key rating used

by NASA and the Department of Defense to assess a particular technology’s maturity.

Doctors and the military use these devices to remotely monitor the health of patients and soldiers. However, applications of this technology are currently limited by a bulky design and complicated logistics for use. The ultimate goal of this research is to make wearable technology not only easier and more comfortable to use, but also available at a lower price.

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