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Sustainability imperatives drive textile innovation
December 22nd, 2016
Sustainability in textile development and manufacturing is an ongoing conversation, much of it revolving around processes that conserve energy, water and natural resources. But beyond manufacturing processes, sustainability issues are driving true technical innovation, resulting in new products offering a host of advantages. Replacing PFCs in DWRs The search for alternatives to perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) […]
Biomimicry design competition opens
December 22nd, 2016
Applications are now open to enter the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge, an annual competition that asks teams comprising students or professionals to address critical global issues with nature-inspired solutions. The challenge is hosted by the Missoula, Mont.-based Biomimicry Institute in partnership with the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. According to the press release announcing the program, […]
Medical textiles: what’s next?
December 22nd, 2016
“Health in hands,” is one of the catch phrases that illustrate a new focus in health care today. Proactive health care by monitoring and managing health issues continues to gain broader acceptance, particularly in developed and developing economies. Textiles of many kinds enhance health care products and contribute to the next phase of improvements. The […]
Archroma receives eco award from Pakistan
December 21st, 2016
Swiss specialty chemicals developer Archroma has received the Award for Eco-innovation from WWF-Pakistan at the local World Wildlife Fund branch’s annual Green Office Network Meeting in Karachi. The award recognizes Archroma’s efforts to foster sustainable innovations aimed at preserving ground-water reserves and developing eco-efficient processes that reduce energy, process time and resource consumption. The award […]
“Sky Nest” tent wins Good Design Award
December 20th, 2016
Japanese outdoor-equipment developer Snow Peak recently won a Japan Good Design Award for its Sky Nest “floating” tent, which is suspended from trees and off the ground. Measuring approximately 4-by-7 feet, with an inner liner to help protect campers from wetness and condensation, the tent features a ventilator at the top to help keep cool […]
‘Luma’ pendant is a fuzzy fiber-optic light ball
December 19th, 2016
For artists Kevin Siwoff and Lisa Park, light is a material that can be pulled apart, strand by strand. In their latest collaboration, the two have created the “Luma” pendant—a sculpture that emits a calming and dreamlike light through thousands of fiber optic hairs. Siwoff and Park’s work is directly influenced by their 2015 sound-responsive installation “Luma,” […]
Adidas unveils world’s first performance shoe made from Biosteel
December 16th, 2016
Athletic-shoe maker adidas has unveiled the first performance shoe made using Biosteel® fiber—a replication of natural silk that’s 100 percent biodegradable through a natural process. The adidas Futurecraft Biofabric prototype shoe features an upper made from 100 percent Biosteel fiber, a nature-based, high-performance fiber developed by German biotech company AMSilk; the material is 15 percent […]
New generation of bluesign bluefinder online
December 15th, 2016
Fourteen years after the release of the first online positive list of safe chemicals, Swiss textile specialists bluesign technologies has launched the latest generation of the bluesign® bluefinder. This patented platform has already amassed more than 7,500 “bluesign approved” chemicals. Chemicals in the bluesign bluefinder originate from the most sustainably acting chemical companies in the world. […]
Researchers improve production of thin, efficient solar cells
December 14th, 2016
Researchers at the Air Force Research Laboratory are nearing thin, wearable electronics and other vital power applications. Photovoltaics, or solar cells, are a key component in next-generation power applications, but integrating them into Air Force systems has been difficult because the materials used to make the cells are typically thick, opaque, rigid and heavy. Attempts […]
Hospital linens market expected to reach 9.1 by 2024
December 9th, 2016
According to a recently published report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the global market for hospital linen supply and management services is likely to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.4 percent from 2016 to 2024 and increase to $9.1 billion by the end of the forecast period. The market was valued at […]