Germany’s Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) at the RWTH Aachen University can proudly claim two prize winners this year’s Walter Reiners Foundation Awards.

Low-cost ultra-thin carbon fibres

In his master's thesis, ITA master's graduate student Flávio André Marter Diniz developed polyethylene-based carbon fibres that are two to three times thinner than usual, and showed how the use of PE-based precursors can in future reduce the price of carbon fibre by 50%.

Diniz’ master's thesis ‘Investigation of the stabilisation and carbonisation process for the production of ultra-thin polyethylene-based carbon fibres’, was chosen as the best diploma/master's thesis in German textile mechanical engineering, with prize money of 3500 euros.

Carbon fibres are often used in growth areas such as wind turbines and pressure tanks due to their excellent properties. Unfortunately, they are very expensive due to high manufacturing costs and limited supply. Flávio André Marter Diniz’ low-cost carbon fibres using a polyethylene precursor, also offer further advantages such as excellent surface quality without any noticeable structural deficits.

In his investigations Mr. Diniz was also able to reduce the time-consuming sulphonation process by 25%. These major advantages, ITA says, pave the way for a wider range of applications for carbon fibres in key industries such as wind power, automotive and aerospace.

New method for fibre-to-fibre recycling of used textiles

In her bachelor’s thesis, ITA Bachelor's graduate Annika Datko showed how used textiles can be sorted by fibre composition using near-infrared (NIR) sensor technology, which on a laboratory scale, has an average mean error of only 4%.

Sorting according to fibre composition to subsequently carry out fibre-to-fibre recycling is the most sustainable way to produce new fibres for new products from (used) textile fibres. For her work ‘Experimental analysis of the sortability of used textiles containing polyester using near-infrared spectroscopy on a laboratory and industrial scale’, Ms. Datko received the 3000 euros prize for the best bachelor's thesis from the German Textile Machinery Association.

Used textiles are currently sorted almost exclusively by hand. For fibre-to-fibre recycling, currently the most sustainable textile recycling option, it is important to sort textiles by fibre composition. This cannot be reliably done manually, i.e. by feel, especially with fibre blends. Annika Datko's approach of using NIR for sorting used textiles is new. NIR sensor technology is already state of the art for recycling plastic waste but is still in its infancy when it comes to sorting textiles.

In the new approach the textile sample is irradiated with NIR light. Based on the wavelengths of the reflected light and the light picked up by the detector, a material-specific spectrum is created that resembles a fingerprint. Annika Datko compared these spectra or fingerprints of textiles with different fibre components and was was able to prove that it is possible to differentiate between different fibre compositions using NIR and that it has a very low average mean error of just 4% on a laboratory scale.

"This method shows the way to sustainably tackle the mountains of used textiles," says Professor Dr Thomas Gries, Director of ITA. "We are very proud that two of our students have been honoured with the prestigious Walter Reiners Prize. Every award underlines the quality of our education. Congratulations to our two winners this year!"

The Chairman of the Board of the Walter Reiners Foundation, Peter D. Dornier, presented the prizes at the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendort International Textile Conference in Dresden.

The VDMA Textile Machinery Association is actively involved in sup-porting young engineers through its Walter Reiners Foundation. Every year, the Foundation of German Textile Machinery Manufacturers awards sponsorship and sustainability prizes in the Bachelor, Diploma and Master categories. Academic work in which solutions for resource-saving products and technologies are developed is eligible for the sustainability prizes.

www.ita.rwth-aachen.de

www.vdma.org