Smart Textiles are on the rise. Annual growth rates of their market volumes amount up to 30%.[1] To access this market, new ways of linking electronics and textiles need to be found. Innovative, flexible textile-based conductors are consistently challenged to combine electrical conductivity, mechanical robustness, textile flexibility and the lowest possible cost. Advanced additives can help to open previously unattainable features, while at the same time paving the way from laboratory scale to industry. Graphene and its relatives (GRM) are considered to be novel wonder materials, whose excellent electronic, mechanical and thermal properties have the potential to replace commonly used materials in various fields.[2,3] In this context, there are also many examples in which GRMs have been investigated for their usage in conductive polymer compounds.[4] However, when these conductive compounds are spun into synthetic fibers, either the conductivity is lost or the resulting yarns lack tenacity. Trevira GmbH has now developed a method of melt spinning conductive core-shell yarns that overcome just this obstacle and are both electrically conductive and have high tenacity. Fabrics made from this material can be used in a wide variety of applications such as antistatic, sensory, heating, electromagnetic shielding or medical equipment. Trevira GmbH is an innovative European manufacturer of polyethylene terephthalate granulates, fibers and filament yarns. It is the only company in Europe that covers the entire value chain from monomers to finished yarn and ready-to-use fibers. Trevira is a subsidiary of Indorama and part of IVL Lifestyle Europe.
[1] Venture Development, Markets and Markets, Grand View Research, Allied Market Research, Destatis, Bureau of Economic Analysis und eigene Berechnungen ZEW, 2017.
[2] N. N. Rosli, M.A. Ibrahim, N.A. Ludin, M.A.M. Teridi, K. Sopian, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 99 (2019) 83-99
[3] A. K. Geim, Science, 324 (2009) 1530-1534 [4] A. J. Marsden, D. G. Papageorgiou, C. Vallés, A. Liscio, V. Palermo, M. A. Bissett, R. J. Young, I. A. Kinloch, 2D Mater. 2018, 5, 032003