Development of a new, stronger,3D printed, all direction-stretchable, cloth-like polymer fabric

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We wish to develop the next generation of our POC non-woven, all-direction stretchable, polymer cloth fabric, significantly increasing its strength and robustness to bring to the market. The research is driven by latent demand from global brands in activewear market where there is growing demand for unique non-woven meshes, fabrics and designs not possible through traditional manufacturing techniques. Current leading 3D printed fabrics, including our own, are forced to compromise between the drape and flexibility of the polymer fabric and the weight, thickness and strength of it. In order to meet the demands of the activewear market, we aim to develop a new non-woven polymer fabric, utilising our Cosyflex technology with new polymer compounds to create a fabric 15x stronger than current technology. This will be supported by the development of a multi-directional electrostatic flocking technology, enabling different thicknesses, strength and polymers to be applied to different parts of a garment. The development of the technology will immediately open up the activewear and footwear markets to us – we expect to generate £1.5m t/o Y1 -> £9m t/o by Y5, 70% of which is exports, enabling us to become a world leader in the 3D printed textile market.