This is how smart textiles can look like: self-cleaning cotton or a colour-changing print

Original article by YLE Svenska Åboland (in Swedish)

The translation below was implemented by Laura Koskelo (Aalto University) for Multifunctional Materials Design research group.

For many years researchers from Nordic countries have worked for making textile industry more sustainable. Now there are prototypes of cotton which can clean itself and of textiles which are created of invasive lupines.  

How could future clothes and textiles become more ecofriendly, smart and sustainable? A research group from Nordic countries has tried to figure out this for many years and in October the prototypes they have made are presented in an exhibition in Turku.

A doctoral researcher Alicja Lawrynowicz from faculty of technology in Turku University has been developing two different smart textiles. In one of the projects researchers have created a cotton fabric which can clean up itself without water. This is possible because the fabric has been treated with mineral called zinc oxide.  

The mineral forms a self-cleaning layer and stains on the fabric disappear when they are exposed to the day light, in other words ultraviolet light. If stains disappear by themselves, it reduces the need of washing and garment burdens less nature.

In the other textile project, researchers have managed to develop non-toxic textile print which changes its colour when it is subjected to sunlight. Mineral hackmanite, which reacts to ultraviolet radiation, is used here. The mineral does not originate from mines but is created in a laboratory in Turku.

For first time ever hackmanite is now used in textile prints. The mineral works as an ultraviolet censor and changes its colour when you have been too long time in the sun and must protect yourself. It can reduce the risk for damage of the sun, says Alicja Lawrynowicz.

Material out to the market

Prototypes which now have been retrieved are not yet available in larger scale. So, what is going to happen with all discoveries?

The idea is that they are not going to stay in the laboratory. We hope that in the future our innovations will be used in industry, says Lawrynowicz.

The research is multidisciplinary, which means that there has been cooperation between different research groups. Research goes on also in other Nordic countries.  

Lupine can become textiles

In Denmark one research group has invested in ecofriendly colouring and created dyes out of big amounts of waste from local restaurants, among others avocado and onion peels. Avocado peels give textiles a beautiful yellow colour and onion creates brown nuances. In future these colours could replace traditional, toxic dyes.

At the same time researchers in Aalto University have produced textiles out of lupine, which is an invasive species in Finland.

By now we have cleaned lupine out of ditch and seen it as a problem, but here researchers have created fibers and been able to weave a cloth out of it, says research coordinator Helen Salminen from field of material science in Turku University.

Within the framework for the project researchers in Sweden have in turn worked for retrieving alternatives for plastic fibers (elastane) which are often used in jeans fabric for making fabric more elastic.

Cotton which includes a couple of percents plastic fibers is difficult to recycle. That makes it difficult to use fabric as a raw material for further processes. For that reason, it is important to find new ways to weave fabric so that fabric can be recycled and can be elastic without plastic fibers, says Alicja Lawrynowicz.

Prototypes that research group has created within the framework of project Beyond e-Textiles are exhibited until 11 October 2024 in building Natura in Turku University.