In 2018, TEKO funded a project entitled “Resource effective processes for coloration, functional and smart textiles”.
The goal of the project is to establish a lab-scale infrastructure at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås, which allows the university, as well as industry to explore the implementation of resource effective textile process in research and education. The infrastructure includes a comprehensive digital printing platform, an atmospheric plasma treatment system and several instruments for textile characterization.
The comprehensive digital printing platform includes a roll-to-roll Samba printer, a Samba print head bridge with high-speed camera, a Chromojet printer (based on valve-jetting technology) and a spray system. The Samba print head bridge, the high-speed camera and Samba printer provide a R&D platform with the most advanced print head technology available on the market. The high-speed camera captures the drop formation, and drop size of ink in the inkjet printing process, which can be used to optimize the ink formulation, as well as the printing process in general.
The Chromojet printer and spray system are featured with digital technology. The deposition amount and/or the location of materials are regulated in a digitalized fashion. Chromojet printing and spraying normally delivers more materials per surface area than inkjet printing. For industry applications, Chromojet printing is well suited for applications, that require heavier but still precise deposition of material, for example coloration and functionalization of carpets.
The atmospheric plasma treatment system is designed for surface treatment or pre-treatment of textiles prior to dyeing or printing. The atmospheric plasma technology is a dry technology, which does not necessitate water and chemicals but instead gas as media to treat the textile. The plasma treatment system runs at ambient condition and allows a roll-to-roll continuous textile process. To be specific, a 60 cm wide textile roll can be loaded into the plasma treatment system and run at a speed of 1-10 meter per minute.
The instruments for textile characterization include a porosimeter and a data color measurement device. The porosimeter is a non-invasive method, which can determine the pore size and distribution of pores in a textile structure, such as in woven, knitted or non-woven materials.
The Swedish School of Textiles would like to invite participants of TEKO day for a lab visit to see and find out more about the above mentioned instruments. You get the possibility to ask questions and discuss the machine on-site with a researcher.
ARE YOU INTERESTED OF AT TOUR?
Junchun Yu, Textilhögskolan will organize a tour at 10 am on October 14th. Please write to [email protected] about how many visitors and which instrument you would like to see.
