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Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2021) | Viewed by 24941

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Rocco Furferi

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Guest Editor

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, Italy
Interests: textile engineering; machine vision; artificial neural networks; spectrophotometry; colorimetry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is in the context of the “Sustainable Industry”, with particular reference to the development of “advanced production systems” and the development of “advanced materials” in the textile sector.
The Issue aims to promote papers related to the textile field aiming at the development of a range of sustainable processes, technologies, products, and actions for the improvement of human wellbeing and social equity, significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological shortcomings related to the development of textile products.
Contributing papers can vary from basic science to practical methods and from new developments in textiles to future perspectives.
In the Special Issue, we want to address, in particular, but not exclusively, recent advances in the following topics:

Circular Economy approaches for the textile industry;
Design of new generation of yarns, fabrics, and garments;
Design of fashion textile products using regenerated wool;
Design of textile products using sustainable materials (e.g., organic cotton);
Design of textile products improving health and wellness;
Ecofriendly processes for fabric manufacturing (including dyeing and finishing)’
Life Cycle Assessment of textiles manufacturing;
Sustainable processes;
Environment impact of the textile industry;
Textile waste management;
Smart materials;
Bio-based materials;
Smart processes;
New generation of yarns and fabrics quality assessment systems;
Sustainable nonwoven fabrics.

Prof. Dr. Rocco Furferi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

regenerated wool
sustainable fabrics
textile design
life cycle assessment
ecofriendly textiles
ecofriendly dyeing and finishing
bio-based meterials
sustainable process
nonwoven sustainable fabrics
circular economy

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

4 pages, 187 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue on Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy

by Rocco Furferi

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(9), 4161; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11094161 - 2 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1598

Abstract

This work presents the Special Issue on Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy, published in the Applied Sciences Journal. Such an issue was introduced to promote papers related to the textile field aiming at the development of a range of sustainable processes, technologies, products, and actions for the improvement of human well-being and social equity. Works proposed in this Special Issue are aimed at significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological shortcomings related to the development of textile products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

19 pages, 3119 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bio-Based Polyester Fiber Substitutes: From GWP to a More Comprehensive Environmental Analysis

by Tijana Ivanović, Roland Hischier and Claudia Som

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(7), 2993; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11072993 - 26 Mar 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6665

Abstract

The textile industry has lately started exploring the possibility of bio-sourcing for synthetics, notably polyester fiber, in the effort to break from the proven fossil-fuel dependency and decrease the environmental impacts. Traditionally made out of fossil-based polyethylene terephthalate polymer, polyester can be functionally substituted with three bio-based alternatives: bio-polyester, polytrimethylene terephthalate, and polylactic acid fibers. At present, however, there is a lack of studies on the environmental effects of such substitution. We, therefore, performed a comparative, cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of conventional polyester and those substitutes featuring varying levels of bio-content. The impact assessment was performed with the most recent version of the Environmental Footprint method including some adaptations—using carbon crediting and a different, distance-to-target weighting approach. Bio-sourced fibers are found to cause higher environmental burdens than polyester. Acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, water, and land use increase with the bio-content and are predominantly linked to the first generation feedstock (agriculture and transport). The results on climate change vary with the impact method adaptations, yet do not manage to offset the aforementioned deteriorations. In single scores, only three out of nine substitutes are found to perform comparably, while the rest perform significantly worse than the incumbent fiber. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

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13 pages, 1178 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Consequences of Closing the Textile Loop—Life Cycle Assessment of a Circular Polyester Jacket

by Gregor Braun, Claudia Som, Mélanie Schmutz and Roland Hischier

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(7), 2964; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11072964 - 26 Mar 2021

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 6475

Abstract

The textile industry is recognized as being one of the most polluting industries. Thus, the European Union aims to transform the textile industry with its “European Green Deal” and “Circular Economy Action Plan”. Awareness regarding the environmental impact of textiles is increasing and initiatives are appearing to make more sustainable products with a strong wish to move towards a circular economy. One of these initiatives is wear2wear^TM, a collaboration consisting of multiple companies aiming to close the loop for polyester textiles. However, designing a circular product system does not lead automatically to lower environmental impacts. Therefore, a Life Cycle Assessment study has been conducted in order to compare the environmental impacts of a circular with a linear workwear jacket. The results show that a thoughtful “circular economy system” design approach can result in significantly lower environmental impacts than linear product systems. The study illustrates at the same time the necessity for Life Cycle Assessment practitioners to go beyond a simple comparison of one product to another when it comes to circular economy. Such products require a wider system analysis approach that takes into account multiple loops, having interconnected energy and material flows through reuse, remanufacture, and various recycling practices. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

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Figure 1

26 pages, 11633 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Basalt Textile-Reinforced Vinylester and Epoxy Resins for Anchors Used to Fasten Ventilated Building Facades

by Tomasz M. Majka, Aleksander Byrdy and Krzysztof Pielichowski

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(19), 6839; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10196839 - 29 Sep 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2033

Abstract

The aim of this work was to obtain insulation composite anchors based on basalt textile-reinforced vinylester and epoxy resins for fixing heavy building elevation cladding. It concerns the problem of applying materials not originating from wood, construction steel or concrete in the building industry. So far, the application of polymeric materials, including polymeric composites, in construction has been limited to paints, varnishes and glues, and the use of engineering polymers as building materials has been limited. This article presents a study on the influence of the type of basalt reinforcement (in the form of textile, chopped fibre and powder) on the mechanical and functional properties of vinylester and epoxy compositions towards potential applications as construction anchors to fasten building facades. Based on an analysis of the experimental results, a material was selected for the production of novel construction anchors. The results reported here constitute an introduction to further considerations related to the applications of vinylester resin/basalt and epoxy resin/basalt composites as construction materials alternative to commonly used steel and aluminium. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

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Graphical abstract

18 pages, 7587 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal and Mechanical Characteristics of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Fibers Obtained via Water- and Dew-Retting

by Dawid Stawski, Ebru Çalişkan, Nazire Deniz Yilmaz and Izabella Krucińska

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(15), 5113; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10155113 - 25 Jul 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3721

Abstract

In this research, fibers were extracted from different parts of the okra plant (Abelmoschus esculentus) via water- and dew-retting methods. The fibers were subjected to physical and thermal analyses. The fibers obtained from the upper part of the okra plant showed higher breaking strength and lower linear density. Fibers obtained via water-retting exhibited higher breaking strength, higher elongation at break rates, and lower linear density values. The paper also presents the results of thermogravimetric analysis of the okra fibers. Tests were carried out in oxygen and inert gas atmospheres. Slight differences were found in the thermal resistance of the tested fibers, which was confirmed by an analysis using the α_s-α_r methodology. The calculated activation energy showed a widespread range of values. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

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Graphical abstract

14 pages, 3458 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Manufacturing of an Innovative Triple-Layer Thermo-Insulated Fabric

by Rocco Furferi, Franco Mantellassi and Yary Volpe

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(2), 680; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10020680 - 18 Jan 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3534

Abstract

Materials used for creating fabrics featuring insulation and thermoregulation are typically made of multi-layer materials consisting of two outer layers and inner padding, traditionally made from goose or duck feathers or even with synthetic materials. In this context, the development of a fabric in which the insulation is carried out directly thanks to the structure of its weave, i.e., where the thermoregulation function is entrusted to one of the yarns (suitably volumized to reduce its density and trap the air) may be an important improvement compared to the state of the art. Accordingly, the present work describes the development of a new kind of triple-layer thermo-insulated innovative fabric (named T4Innovation), in which the thermal insulation is not obtained by means of a padding but rather through the use of appropriate volumized yarns, able to ensure thermal insulation in a reduced thickness. This fabric is manufactured in a single weaving phase, greatly facilitating the subsequent operations of the garment maker. The designed and manufactured fabric was extensively tested to assess its performance. The test demonstrated the effectiveness of such a new class of textile product in terms of thermal performance, which is comparable to the ones of a padded material. Since T4Innovation demonstrates aesthetic properties very close to that of traditional unpadded fabrics, its future commercialization could open new horizons in terms of design, fashion, and style, which are cornerstones of the fashion textile industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Textiles in the Era of Circular Economy)

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