Intelligent textiles

8 February 2001



Innovative textiles are set to become the next niche market. Prof. Dr. Josef Kurz from the Textile Research Centre, Hohenstein Institutes, Germany, explains their significance to the textile rental sector.


Almost any service provided by a company can be substituted or undercut by a determined competitor. However, the higher the technical level of the service that is provided, the more difficult it is to compete with.

This is particularly true for leasing high-tech ‘intelligent’ textiles. Such products, in terms of market volume, are not going to compare with the market for conventional textiles, but it is fairly safe to expect intelligent textiles to become a profitable niche market.

Definition

Intelligent textiles are products where the main emphasis is on specific functions arising from the interaction of physical, chemical and biological variables.

So far, it has been the specialist press, aimed at the retail trade and clothing manufacturers, that has published the most interesting information on the subject, rather than the scientific journals. This, perhaps, shows that the marketing campaign for these new textiles is already underway.

Although, for the manufacturers, there is often a major discrepancy between what is wanted and what is possible and researchers often have difficulty finding solutions for what the marketing people have promised. Be that as it may, the joint activities of research and marketing have brought about measurable change in the textile market. A name was needed for these new textiles and the term ‘intelligent textiles’ has now been adopted but only products with very specific properties are included in the category.

Textile leasing companies should note the two opportunities that these developments bring:

* Transferring products from the retail sector to workwear and personal protective clothing.

*Opening up entirely new markets.

There is no official list of intelligent textiles and for this reason, the categories adopted at a recent conference in Stuttgart, which do not make a strong distinction between function and product, have been used here.

Microclimate in clothing

* Laminates and coatings

These will provide maximum barrier effect against undesirable substances and high water-vapour permeability.

Protection against undesirable substances, which also includes water in many cases, but also biological contaminants, is a very topical subject in the textile leasing sector and one that will become increasingly interesting as the protection of employees becomes more and more important due to the European guidelines.

It must be possible to work outdoors with the minimum impact on the human organism. Protection using laminates and coatings is important here, in particular in connection with wear comfort. This subject will be of increasing interest to the leasing sector in the coming years.

* Phase change materials (PCMs)

These promote the storage and release of heat on the basis of changes to the aggregate state of PCMs (water, paraffin, polyethylene, glycol etc.) brought about by external influences.

What is possible in the retail sector, and in particular in sportswear, can in principle be applied to workwear. For outdoors, where the workers are subjected to major fluctuations in heat and cold, phase change materials can increase their comfort. It is important that the care properties of such clothing are taken into consideration.

* Textile Photovoltaics

The technologies for converting sunlight directly into electricity or utilisation of the internal light effect in semi-conductor materials is well advanced. Although this development is particularly interesting, the applications for clothing are limited. Photovoltaics will enable a large number of innovations to be brought about with technical textiles. The question as to whether the leasing industry could also launch technological aids with photovoltaic elements onto the market in addition to clothing should be considered.

* Thermochromism / Photochromism / Electrochromism

This is understood to mean a reversible change in colour caused by heat, radiation or electricity. In the leasing sector, this can be used to achieve colour effects, to trigger warning effects with specific types of clothing and to complement UV protection.

Biofunctional textiles

Biofunctional textiles will provide prophylaxis and treatment using non-active textile medical products. New textiles combined with drugs are currently being developed for the medical textile leasing sector in addition to textiles for the detection, prevention, monitoring, treatment and relief of diseases.

* Cosmetic applications, medical treatment

These will support regeneration of the skin in the cosmetic and medical sector. Potential applications for the leasing sector include textiles containing a repository for substances which care for the skin and prevent dermatitis or in certain circumstances treat dermatatis. Examples of this type of textile with repository effects are known and are currently being developed.

* Clothing and odour

The aim of Antimicrobial finishes is to prevent unpleasant odours forming, to bind harmful substances and to release pleasant odours.

The extent to which this type of project is of interest to the leasing sector still remains to be clarified. It is necessary to work on the assumption initially that regular care of a textile in a leasing company provides the best conditions to prevent any unpleasant odours from forming.

Special protective clothing

* Protection against stab wounds and shootings

Manufacturers are aiming to produce normal clothing that will protect the wearer against knife and bullet wounds. Just as we can no longer imagine living without corporate image clothing, in the future, corporate safety clothing could prove of interest to specific career groups, in particular for those in the personal safety business. According to the experts, these sectors are becoming increasingly important and the number of people wearing such clothing is rising.

* Protection against UV-radiation

To protect people against the effects of ultra-violet radiation is increasingly important. In some countries, it is now a statutory requirement for outdoor workers to wear suitable protective clothing against the effects of UV-rays. In view of the predicted reduction of the ozone layer and the associated increased exposure of the population to radiation, this aspect must be taken extremely seriously in the future.

* Anti-electro-smog

As the number of devices which produce electromagnetic waves at the workplace is continually on the increase people’s sensitivity to such radiation is growing. We should consider creating appropriate clothing to alleviate the effects. The word ‘electro-smog’ will become the collective term for artificially generated electric and magnetic waves.

Smart clothing

* Sports and leisure

Combining textiles and electronics so that sensors and computers can be worn on the body is already underway in the sports and leisure sector, althought his developmen, will receive even further impetus with respect to textile-based electronics in the coming years. It will then also be possible to use some of the sensors and electronic components used in sports and leisure for professional clothing.

* Work and safety

The aim here is to combine the effects of sensor technology, micro- (nano-) electronics or microsystem technology within an item of clothing for use or reprocessing in the commercial or industrial sector.

The use of transponders to identify, document and provide information or to determine data related to body measurements is well known. The data relating to clothing and body measurements has been developed to technical maturity for the first time by the Finnish company, Reima to create a functional outdoor suit.

Electronic engineers

Microsystem technology and electronics work together in a textile base in the functional outdoor clothing sector; it will later be decided whether the textile experts or the electronics engineers will launch the suit on the market. If the textile leasing companies do so, this could develop into an interesting market.

* Medicine and prevention

Monitoring patients who are ill or in rehabilitation will be possible. Recording vital functions such as pulse, ECG, blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, blood sugar and similar parameters contributes to the monitoring of patients and takes into consideration the desired mobility of the patients. Early recognition of any potential risks to health is possible.

Positive future

Viewed as a whole, the range of new, innovative textile products indicates an extremely positive future for textiles in the coming years.




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