Features

Huge investments in infrastructure and a booming automotive industry are just two of the opportunities in China that are increasingly attracting the attention of textiles and nonwovens manufacturers, according to Editor Nick Butler.

From three-dimensional scaffolds for culturing cells to high-quality filters that can effectively remove blood group-specific antibodies, nonwovens and technical textiles are important materials in modern medicine, writes Adrian Wilson.

The rapid development of technology for producing nanofibres is creating opportunities for nonwovens in a variety of high-performance applications, particularly filtration. Adrian Wilson reviews the current state-of-the-art.

Wherever their sustainable advantages and low cost can be combined with the required performance, there is a compelling case for the use of natural fibres in composites, according to Adrian Wilson.

Lasers, water jets and combinations of these are offering manufacturers new alternatives when it comes to cutting technical textiles and composites quickly and precisely, according to Niki Tait.

A cradle-to-cradle philosophy, contributions to clean indoor air and some innovative technology are among the positives that can be claimed by carpet manufacturers in their bid to regain lost shares in the floorcoverings market, reports Adrian Wilson.

The emerging trends in the markets for body and vehicle armour strongly favour lightweight materials and, Nick Butler reports, DSM Dyneema has responded by developing a technology to make its ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibre a stronger candidate for such applications than ever before.

Editor Nick Butler reports on the trends and latest machinery developments relevant to technical textiles, as revealed by exhibitors’ plans for the forthcoming ITMA Asia, to be held in Shanghai, China, on 16–20 June 2014.

Editorial Comment.

A range of exhibits and events at Index14 demonstrated that nonwovens are far from exhausting their search for new markets, writes Adrian Wilson⁽¹⁾, with the current trend markedly towards high-performance end-uses.