General Trends of Innovation
in thethe TechnicalTechnical TextilesTextiles SectorSectorin
Introduction
Introduction
The first-generation textile fibres were those that were procured directly from the nature and that era lasted
The first-generationtextilewerethosethat wereprocured
adirectlythe natureand thatera
calledlasted
man-for 4,000
for 4,000 years.Manyfibres
yearsbefore,sciencedevelopedsecondfrom
generationof newfibres,
years.
madeMany
fibres.years 
Nylonbefore,
andsciencedevelopedasecondgenerationofnewfibres,calledman-madefibres.Nylon
polyester are two examples of them, a result of the efforts taken by chemists in and
polyesteraretwoexamplesofthem,
thata resultof the
naturalefforts
fibres.taken by chemists in 1950, to evolve with materials that
1950, to evolve with materialsresemble
resemble natural fibres.
Currently the research focuses mainly on finding materials that meet technical needs in various sectors.
Currentlyresearchfocuses mainlyon findingthat meettechnicalneeds in varioussectors. This
This the
involvesthe developmentof veryspecificmaterials
fibres, fabricsand finishingprocesses,using technologyto in-
customervolvesthedevelopmentofveryspecificfibres,fabricsandfinishingprocesses,usingtechnologytomeet
meet customer demands.
demands.
Keywords:Innovation,functionalization,plasma,electrospinning,nanotechnology,finishingprocesses.Keywords:Innovation,functionalization,plasma,electrospinning,nanotechnology,finishingprocesses.
Trends in technical textiles
The global technical textile market (in-
cluding 3D knitting and weaving, nan-
otechnology…) size was estimated at
USD 176.6 bn in 2019 globally, grow-
ing at a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 4.5% from 2020 to 2027.
New and improved applications of tech-
nical textiles can project to propel its
demand across various end-use indus-
tries including agriculture, construction,
aerospace, medical or packaging,
where these textiles can fit better than
other solutions and they may facilitate
some functions and increase the per-
formance of the processes. Neverthe-
less, it is important to mention that oth-
er sectors like security forces, firefight-
ers or foundry workers, for example,
depend on technical textiles, so its
demand it’s unlikely to decrease.
From the perspective of innovation, the
continued development of new fibres
or improved fibres, the new combina-
tions or processing of existing materi-
als, the continuous creation of new
styles and designs or the increasing
application of textile materials in indus-
trial uses and in the services, have
been the main engines of the textile
industry in the last decades. Those
have proven to be the cornerstone of
European companies for improving
their competitiveness in the global
market.Technology used in technical textiles’
production is mostly alike to the regu-
lar textile manufacturing processes in
terms of equipment (except for certain
products). The main difference remains
in the level of requirements and the
quality of the final product demanded.
The common trends of innovation in
technical textiles can be stated as (
Textile Strategy for Innovative Higher
Education. Rimvydas Milašius et al.):high cost and performance and, es-
pecially, by the application of the
technological innovations of the
general textile sector to articles of
technical use (microfibres, new
breathable finishes, grafting tech-
niques of monomers, etc.)
Main research lines in materials,
structures and treatments
Stages of the life cycle of materials
and manufacturing systems
•The dynamism, at the level of prod-
uct development, to respond to new
market-pull demand or to replace
other materials in analogous func-
tions.Different technologies used today in
the textile industry can be arranged in
a stages of maturity chart, depending
on their technological growth and their
development level.
•The multiplicity of possibilities
for the selection of materials, struc-
tures, products manufacturing and
their adaptation to very diverse
uses.
•A slow but continuous progress of
substitution of conventional raw
materials for new materials ofHigh tech fibers are already maturing
(aramids, polyetherketones, PBI, etc.)
while others (e.g. PBO) are growing,
along with the ecological fibers, due
to the increasing collective sensitivity
towards energy conservation and ecol-
ogy aspects.
NCM-OCTOBER 2021
45Technologies such as the manufac-