Functional Fiber Materials

Fiber materials are used in a wide range of areas where one or more functions, beyond the fiber’s mechanical properties, are crucial for their application. This can range from biodegradable agrotextiles in agriculture and functional textiles for total defense to antimicrobial wound dressings. For over a decade, we have been developing functional fibers, primarily for advanced wound care and regenerative medicine. Below is a summary of fiber materials and prototypes developed in our lab, each with different functionalities for various applications.

MedTech and ATMP

• Infection control, antimicrobial function - wound dressings
• Cell adhesion/growth, tissue regeneration – implants, artificial transplants, sutures, surgical meshes
• Immunoadsorption – dialysis, universal blood plasma

Hygiene and Healthcare

• Superabsorbent - incontinence products, diapers
• Fluid/heat transport – dressings, compresses
• Thermal insulation - orthoses

Smart Textiles and Protective Clothing

• Dyeing - clothing
• Electrical conductivity - e-textiles, sensors
• Water/dirt repellency (superhydrophobicity) - protective and functional clothing
• Flame retardancy - protective clothing

Miscellaneous Technical Textiles (Agrotextiles, Geotextiles)

• Crop protection - agrotextiles: mulch films/fabrics, root protection nets
• Antifouling - aquaculture nets
• Phase change materials (temperature control) - covers, textiles for construction and building
• Piezoelectric fibers - textiles for construction and building sensors

Our Offering

We manufacture our functional fiber materials using wet and melt spinning, as well as related nonwoven fabrication techniques such as solution blowing, spun bonding, and thermal bonding. The functionality can be introduced via:

• The dope solution: Functionality is achieved by incorporating an additive (particle or active substance) directly to the fiber forming polymer solution/melt.
  • In some cases, the fiber-forming macromolecule itself is functional, for example, through tailored biodegradability or bioactivity. A major focus here is on biopolymers from marine resources, such as algae and by-products from the seafood industry.
  • Often, we introduce functionality using microcapsules or other delivery vehicles such as mesoporous silica. These delivery vehicles can be used to either enable controlled release of the active substance (e.g., antimicrobial agents) or permanently encapsulate and protect it from the environment (e.g., dyes and sensors).
• Coagulation bath or subsequent processing steps:
  • Molecules and particles with functional groups can be adsorbed onto the fiber surface in the coagulation bath.
  • Chemical reactions can be used to crosslink the fiber material or modify its surface with functional groups, for instance using plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
• Advanced spinnerets for complex cross-sectional morphology and surface topography:
  • We can produce fibers with complex surface structures , which influence properties such as wettability.
  • We can also create multicomponent fibers, for example core–sheath morphologies, which serve similar functions as microcapsules (see above).

We also offer subsequent characterization and evaluation of the obtained functionality. Please feel free to contact us for more information.