Functional Textiles and Applications

Textile materials are contributing to many applications, even in areas where fibers might not immediately be expected such as in personal protective equipment, light-weight structural materials, wearable electronics or biomedical products. Optimization of the textiles for these applications, as well as development of new functional textile applications, are important goals for CTSE. Research happens on different levels, such as the functionalization of fibers (for example to make them antimicrobial), the design of functional textile structures (for example to create hybrid hydrophilic/hydrophobic structures that can guide liquid away from the source), or even to create wearable electronics entirely made from textiles (for example a protective vest with built-in radio antenna). The group has a long history in so-called smart textiles in which smart electronics are combined with textile materials to create all kinds of useful applications and provide a new level of user-interaction that only textiles can provide. A glossary of some of our current research topics is given below.

Textile electroosmotic pumps for active moisture management

Guiding Liquid in Textiles: Electroosmotic Pumps for Targeted Moisture Control

Textile electroosmotic pumps enable electrically driven liquid transport for applications like controlled sweat management in protective clothing and our ongoing research is focusing on optimizing material combination, properties, durability and wearability for integration into garments.

DIAMOND: The smart bandage for diabetic wounds

The aim of the DIAMOND-project is to develop an intelligent bandage for diabetic wounds with real-time monitoring and controlled drug release.

Electrospinning as a new coating technology for various functional applications

Damage resistant composites, fluor-free waterproofing, electrochemical water purification are just several examples of applications that benefit from a new coating technology based on electrospun nanofibers.

Comfort of textiles and garments

Balancing comfort and safety in personal protective clothing

Balancing protection and comfort in personal protective clothing (PPC) requires innovative materials and effective evaluation protocols, crucial for advancing multifunctional designs from military wear to surgical gowns.

Delamination and impact resistant composite materials using nanofiber toughening veils

Unbreakable composites using nanofibers

Adding tough polymer nanofibers alongside glass or carbon fibers greatly increases the damage resistance of composite materials.

Dry EEG textrodes for monitoring brain activity without shaving the head

Hook fabric textrodes collect EEG signals of comparable quality to dry Ag/AgCl and wet gold cup electrodes on a hairy scalp.

Application of textile-based electrodes for ECG monitoring in animals

This work will focus on the development of silver-based textile electrodes to measure a dog's and horse's ECG signals and contrast the results with those obtained using gelled standard AG/AgCl electrodes.

Continuous fiber reinforced Additive Manufacturing

In-house development and characterization of Additive manufacturing technologies for the production of continuous fiber reinforced 3D printed thermoplastic composites allows for the production of intricate, small scale load bearing parts.