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Smart textiles

CNT makers adapt for markets

1 May 2013
Having developed large scale production capacities over the past few years, a number of carbon nanotube (CNT) suppliers are now moving from the supply of powders to optimised masterbatches, dispersion
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Trilobal viscose for effective water desalination

1 May 2013
Galaxy, the patented viscose product of Germany's Kelheim Fibres which is the global number one for tampons has found a completely new and different application - in a direct solar desalination panel.
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Nano-reinforced polymer product range for medical devices

1 May 2013
Foster Corporation, based in Putnam, Connecticut, USA, and a leader in custom polymer compounds for medical devices, has introduced nano-reinforced composites for minimally invasive devices, such as c
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New jet in 4SPIN system increases productivity

1 May 2013
Scientists from Contipro in the Czech Republic have managed to significantly increase the efficiency of nanofibre production with the development of a new jet which arose from efforts to develop techn
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ZephyrLIFE remote monitoring pilot

1 May 2013
Sanborn Place, a 73-unit supportive living community for the elderly and those with progressive diseases located in Reading, Massachussetts, USA, has been equipped with Zephyr Technology's ZephyrLIFE
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Patent on technology for exploiting nanofibre strength

1 May 2013
George Stylios and Lian Luo at Heriot Watt University in the UK have developed a new method and machinery for making nanofibres, outlined in patent WO/2013/030522, published in March.
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Improved 'NanoVelcro' for cancer cell analysis

1 May 2013
Researchers at UCLA have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analysing cancer cells that break away from patient tumours and circulate in the blood.
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Completing the jigsaw with printed QTCs

1 May 2013
Switches and similar Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) such as touchpads have been something of a stumbling block in the progress of printed electronics to date.
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US coast to coast for Solar Impulse

1 May 2013
Dubbed "a flying laboratory for clean technologies', the Solar Impulse will set off from California on its US coast-to-coast flight on May 1st.
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Clariant acquires Bayer nanosilver portfolio

1 May 2013
Clariant International AG of Switzerland has acquired the nanosilver ink technology platform developed under the trademark Bayink from Germany's Bayer Group.
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Valve-based 3D printing of organs

1 April 2013
A 3D printing technique employing human stem cells could pave the way to purpose-built replacement organs for patients, eliminating the need for organ donation, immune suppression and the problem of t
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Powerweave energy storage project

1 April 2013
Danish electronic textiles specialist Ohmatex, Professor Michael Gratzel, the inventor of dye sensitized solar cells and printed battery researchers from Brunel University are among an EU 7th Framewor
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Chemical decontamination success with Fibertect

1 April 2013
Fibertect, the nonwoven decontamination wipe created by researchers at Texas Tech University, has been improved and proven itself more viable at cleaning up a nerve chemical surrogate than the deconta
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Coated fabrics for desert water collection

1 April 2013
A research team from the Technical University of Eindhoven and Hong Kong Polytechnic University have discovered that coating the cotton fabrics with temperature responsive PNIPAAm (Poly(N-isopropylacr
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Micro-massage performance wear

1 April 2013
Puma's new ACTV and RCVR training tights, shorts and tops are the first products to employ both athletic taping and enhanced compression and received a Gold Award at the recent Ispo sports exhibition
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Fast and effective water-based bonding

1 April 2013
While many adhesive users have been underwhelmed by water based products in the past, new 1000NF fast tack adhesive will change perceptions, according to its maker 3M.
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Enhanced Runalyzer heart strap

1 April 2013
Runware, a designer of devices for smartphones based in Sainte-Clotilde, France, is launching the Runalyzer blue chest strap for iPhone 5 for measuring and improving sports activity.
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Improved new battery separators

1 April 2013
Porous Power Technologies, in which nonwovens major Ahlstrom acquired a 59% stake at the end of 2011, has launched a new range of ceramic-filled battery separators designed to significantly improve th
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Fighting fatal fatigue with smart fabrics

1 April 2013
The three year Euro1.3 million Harken EU7 project, which began during 2012, is aiming to combat road accidents and casualties caused by fatigue with a non-intrusive sensing system of a driver's heart
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Ascalon FR commercial launch

1 April 2013
Alexium's nylon flame retardant (FR) products trademarked Ascalon will be introduced over the coming months and the company expects revenues to grow rapidly in mid-2013 from its exclusive commercial a
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Texan trials of WASP firefighting system

1 April 2013
In December 2012, the Product Development Center at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) executed a test-bed agreement with firefighting gear manufacturer Globe Manufacturing, based
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Hexcel's carbon fibre Airbus achievements

1 April 2013
At the JEC Composites show in Paris from March 12-14, Hexcel has been providing details of its work on the Airbus A350 XWB, which takes carbon composites to a new level and represents the largest cont
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New carbon reinforced graphite material

1 April 2013
Germany's SGL Group has developed a new type of carbon fibre reinforced graphite material designed for industrial heat treatment applications.
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Glatfelter backing for Dreamweaver separators

1 April 2013

DreamWeaver International has announced a new partnership with wetlaid and airlaid nonwovens major Glatfelter, to develop and manufacture the next generation of high performance and affordable sepa

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Textile strain gauge sensor in new medical stockings

1 April 2013
Heart failure patients and pregnant women at risk from pre-eclampsia could soon benefit from a new electronic stocking for monitoring fluid retention in the legs.
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Mineral performance fibres adopted by Puma

1 April 2013
The Puma men's athletic apparel line inspired by world record sprinter Usain Bolt now incorporates patented Celliant mineral fibre technology developed by Hollogenix LLC, of Santa Monica, California.
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Award for aerogel containing composites

1 April 2013
Composites containing aerogels for building insulation applications received the Award for Product Innovation at the recent BAU 2013 trade fair for architecture, materials and systems held in Munich.
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"Smart" disposable diapers to be launched this year

1 April 2013
"Smart" disposable diapers being developed by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute are likely to be launched later this year.
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Automotive fabrics help to fight potentially fatal fatigue

1 April 2013
A European project aims to develop a non-intrusive sensing system embedded in the seat cover and the safety belt of a car to monitor a driver's heart and respiration rhythms in order to warn of growin
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Smart fabrics that rely on precision-made components

At Techtextil in Frankfurt, Germany (11–13 June 2013) Groz-Beckert of Albstadt, Germany, will tell visitors that its needles, and weaving and knitting accessories are being used increasingly to make smart fabrics.

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Breaking the three minute cycle

1 March 2013
Roctool has demonstrated how it is now possible to develop an ultra-thin carbon fibre composite part in just two minutes and 30 seconds with its 3iTech technology.
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Filament yarns with integrated self cleaning

1 March 2013
Working with the Institute for Textile Technology and Process Engineering (ITV) and the Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), both in Denkendorf, Germany, TWD Fibres GmbH has deve
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Losing the loops in polymer chains

1 March 2013
As long chains of repeating molecules, networks of polymers - both synthetics as natural products such as rubber and cellulose - all contain structural flaws at the molecular level.
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Combined airbag and seatbelt from Autoliv

1 March 2013
The Bag-in-belt is a combined seatbelt and airbag designed to further reduce the load on a car rear-seat occupant's ribcage in the event of a frontal collision.
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Energy storage textiles showcased at Techtextil 2013

1 March 2013
Intelligent or smart textiles are increasingly incorporating additional energy and heat functions to improve the sustainability of products, says Messe Frankfurt, organiser of the Techtextil trade sho
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Multi-purpose prevention with nanofibre webs

1 March 2013
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a University of Washington research team almost US$1 million to further develop the technology for employing nanofibre nonwovens to simultaneously bot
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Filament yarns with integrated self cleaning

1 March 2013
Working with the Institute for Textile Technology and Process Engineering (ITV) and the Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), both in Denkendorf, Germany, TWD Fibres GmbH has deve
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Silica for super-composites

1 March 2013
Research into developing the strongest silica nanofibres in the world is being pioneered at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) in the UK, with plans for their use in
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Actuator with finger-like flex

1 March 2013
An elegant and powerful new microscale actuator that can flex like a finger has been developed by researchers at the US Department of Energy’s Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley
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PFC-free alternative for breathable membranes

1 March 2013
Outdoor clothing can be made waterproof and highly breathable with ultrathin membranes made from Arnitel VT from DSM.
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Fashion designer goes mobile

1 March 2013
Samsung Electronics has teamed up with New York-based designer Alexander Wang to create a textile print inspired by crowd-sourced sketches and images using the Galaxy Note II smartphone.
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Fibre that changes colour when stretched

1 March 2013
The bright iridescent blue colour of a tropical plant's fruit were the inspiration for a new fibre that changes colour when stretched, developed by a collaborative team of researchers at Harvard Unive
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Smart Fabrics 2013

1 March 2013
Adidas, MC10, Pebble Technology, Eeonyx Corporation, IDEO, and Philips Lighting are among leading players making presentations at the ninth Smart Fabrics conference which will be held at the Hyatt at
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Thin film solar cells set new record

1 March 2013
Thin film solar cells on flexible polymer foils with a new record efficiency of 20.4% have been developed at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.
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LED-embedded yarns in prototype garment

1 March 2013
A prototype garment with electronic micro-devices embedded into the core of its yarns has been produced by researchers Nottingham Trent University's Advanced Textiles Research Group.
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Recon claims the Wearable Technologies title

1 March 2013
Recon Instruments from Canada was the overall winner of the Wearable Technologies Innovation World Cup announced at the ISPO sports gear show in Munich, Germany, on February 4th.
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New nonwoven biomedical range

1 March 2013
US BioDesign launched its new nonwoven biomedical component range at the Medical Design and Manufacturing West Trade Show in Anaheim, California (February 12-15).
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Lighting up London Fashion Week

1 March 2013
A highly-stylised shoe by one of the fashion world's brightest new names literally lit up the recent London Fashion Week as a result of collaborative work with De Montfort University in Leicester.
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Nanofibre production at lower consumption

1 March 2013
A new system for spinning nanofibres that should offer significant productivity increases while drastically reducing power consumption is being developed by Luis Velasquez-Garcia and his team at MIT's
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Actuator with finger-like flex

1 March 2013
An elegant and powerful new microscale actuator that can flex like a finger has been developed by researchers at the US Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab and the University of California, Berkeley.
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