K4Footwear – Knowledge4Innovation

K4Footwear was in the high education group of projects (HE) under the general name Knowledge4Innovation and label KA2-Strategical partnership for high education (AGREEMENT NO. 2015-1-RO01-KA203-015198). The project lasted from 2015 until 2018. The aim of the project was to combine training and education for design, product development, engineering and management by connecting the three areas of the knowledge triangle: education, research, and business. The general contribution of the project is innovation in the footwear production by transferring knowledge between three European universities as well as the promotion of European excellence and high quality in higher education

New Textile Sensors for In Situ Structural Health Monitoring of Textile Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites Based on the Conductive Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) Polymer Complex

Many metallic structural and non-structural parts used in the transportation industry can be replaced by textile-reinforced composites. Composites made from a polymeric matrix and fibrous reinforcement have been increasingly studied during the last decade. On the other hand, the fast development of smart textile structures seems to be a very promising solution for in situ structural health monitoring of composite parts. In order to optimize composites’ quality and their lifetime all the production steps have to be monitored in real time. Textile sensors embedded in the composite reinforcement and having the same mechanical properties as the yarns used to make the reinforcement exhibit actuating and sensing capabilities. This paper presents a new generation of textile fibrous sensors based on the conductive polymer complex poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) developed by an original roll to roll coating method. Conductive coating for yarn treatment was defined according to the preliminary study of percolation threshold of this polymer complex. The percolation threshold determination was based on conductive dry films’ electrical properties analysis, in order to develop highly sensitive sensors. A novel laboratory equipment was designed and produced for yarn coating to ensure effective and equally distributed coating of electroconductive polymer without distortion of textile properties. The electromechanical properties of the textile fibrous sensors confirmed their suitability for in situ structural damages detection of textile reinforced thermoplastic composites in real time

Handle of cotton knitted fabrics : influence of pretreatments

Consumers demand for comfort has been permanently rising. In the last twenty years or so a good progress was achieved in this area resulting in more pleasant fabrics handle. It is well know that this complex fabric property depends on fabric constructon, finess of fibers and finishing treatments, although some chemical and most mechanical finishing processes improve it. This paper discusses fabric handle characteristics after some stages of cotton pretreatment. For Such purpose frictional properties of cotton knitted fabrics were evaluated using a new method of measuring fabric coefficient of friction. tested cotton fabrics were alkali and enzymatic scoured, prebleached and bleached in laboratory and in industrial conditions. Degree of plymerization, sewability and fabric friction coefficient were measured and evaluated

Thermal Properties of PEDOT-compl-PSS Sensor Yarns and Textile Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites

Smart textile structures such as sensor yarns provide real possibility for in situ structural health monitoring of textile reinforced thermoplastic composites. In this work thermal properties of E-glass/polypropylene (GF/PP) and E-glass/poly(N,N’-hexamethylene adipamide) (GF/PA66) sensor yarns based on conductive polymer complex [3,4(ethylenedioxy)thiophene]-compl-poly(4-vinylbenzenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT-compl-PSS) and related composites were studied. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) and limiting oxygen index (LOI) methods were used to detect thermal behaviour of these structures and effect of coatings applied. According to TGA, GF/PP sensor yarn started to decompose at higher temperature, 345 °C, and showed higher pyrolysis residue, 28 %, compared to GF/PA66 sensor yarn that started to decompose at 316 °C and had lower pyrolysis residue, 23 % . The MCC showed that Heat Release Rate peaks of GF/PP sensor yarn, 341 W/g, and GF/PA66 sensor yarn, 348 W/g, occurred at similar Heat Release Temperature, ~ 430 °C. The additional peak, 51 W/g, was detected for GF/PP sensor yarn at 493 °C. Finally, LOI 22 and LOI 23 were detected only for GF/PP and GF/PA66 composites with integrated sensor yarns

Thermal behaviour and flame retardancy of monoethanolamine-doped sol-gel coatings of cotton fabric

Recent studies have shown that the combustion behaviour of cellulose-based materials can be strongly affected by the presence of a protective phosphorus-rich silica coating obtained with a promising sol-gel approach. Thus, in the present work, monoethanolamine (MEA) was used in combination with diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane sol-gel precursor (DPTES) to investigate both the ability of MEA to neutralize the acidic conditions of DPTES sol before cotton fabric treatment and the fire resistant properties of the obtained coating (COT-A). Moreover, to study the influence of an inorganic–organic silica matrix on the durability of the proposed flame retardant finishing, the DPTES-MEA sol was mixed with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTES) precursors, to produce hybrid coatings on cotton fibres (COT-B). Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Attenuated Total Reflection-Infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology, as well as the chemical structure of the treated and untreated fabrics. Furthermore, thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Microscale Combustion Calorimeter (MCC), and Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI) were performed on the treated cotton fabrics with a promising outcome. The results showed that DPTES-MEA sol is able to enhance the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of cotton, exploiting the joint effect of thermal shielding (exerted by the silica phases) and char-forming (exerted both by the phosphoric acid source present in the alkoxysilane precursor and by the nitrogen content in MEA). Both proposed sol-gel treatments allow the cotton samples to achieve a LOI value of 29, classifying them as self-extinguishing materials

Effect of monoethanolamine and silica additives on flame retardant action of diethylphosphatoethyl-triethoxysilane on cellulose based fabric

Recent studies have shown that the combustion behaviour of cellulosic substrates can be strongly affected by the presence of a protective phosphorus-rich silica coating obtained with a promising sol- gel approach. Thus, in the present work, monoethanolamine (MEA) was used in combination of diethylphosphatoethyltriethoxysilane (DPTES) with the aim to investigate both the ability of MEA to neutralize the acidic conditions of DPTES sol before cotton fabric treatment and the fire resistant properties of the obtained coating. Moreover, to study the influence of an inorganic–organic hybrid matrix on the durability of the proposed flame retardant finishing, the DPTES-MEA sol was mixed with tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and 3-glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GPTES) precursors, to produce hybrid silica coatings on the cotton fibres. Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI), thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), microscale combustion calorimeter (MCC), were performed on the treated cotton fabrics. The results showed that DPTES-MEA sol is able to enhance the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of cotton, exploiting the joint effect of thermal shielding (exerted by silica phases) and char-forming

Sodium metasilicate for improvement cotton flame retardancy

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