Development of a sustainable, recyclable, and circular Waterproof Breathable Textile

开发可持续、可回收、循环的防水透气纺织品

• 批准号: 78721
• 金额: $ 22.3万
• 依托单位: AMPHIBIO LTD
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=78721
• 关键词: Development; sustainable; recyclable; circular; Waterproof

Waterproof breathable garments typically consist of a laminated multi-layer construction, comprising a durable water-repellent-coated outer shell textile, a waterproof breathable membrane, and a lining material. These fabrics are bonded together to form the multi-layer structure, with pieces of fabric sewn together to produce garments. To prevent leaks along seams, they are sealed with tape. This approach delivers high-performance apparel, but is limited by three key drawbacks:1\.**Use of environmentally concerning chemicals.** High-performance membranes are typically manufactured from expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE; Gore-Tex), which is inherently waterproof, windproof, and chemically inert. However, brands are under increasing consumer pressure to remove PFCs (per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals), since these harmful chemicals persist and bioaccumulate when released in the environment (OECD\_2013).2\. **No sustainable end-of-life solutions.** Multi-material textiles cannot be separated and face either landfill or incineration at end-of-life. In landfill, plastics break down slowly over time to produce microplastics, which are harmful and persist in the environment (OECD\_2013). During incineration, PTFE membranes used in Waterproof Breathable Textiles (WBTs) have been shown to produce highly toxic hydrofluoric acid, which is converted to fluorspar in a typical municipal incinerator (Aleksandrov\_et\_al\_2019).3\.**Requirement for cheap labour.** High manual effort associated with garment production means manufacture requires large numbers of fabric cutters and sewing machine operators. China accounts for around 38% by value of the world's textile exports (WTO\_2019). The recent lockdown in Leicester has brought the condition of textile workers closer to home to the fore, with workers reportedly receiving far below UK minimum wage (as little as £3.50/hour) and working in unsafe conditions, with little or no social distancing during lockdown (The\_Sunday\_Times\_2020).Amphibio is a London-based micro-SME founded in November 2018 by Jun Kamei, a designer and material scientist exploring potential commercial applications of wearable superhydrophobic porous membranes. With Innovate UK support, we will develop an innovative WBT that delivers on the triple bottom line of three Ps: People, Planet, and Profit:1\.**People.** We will develop an automated whole garment manufacturing process using digital 3D knitting, which removes the requirement for cheap labour. Uniqlo launched a 3D knitted collection in 2017 and is now using 3D knitting to produce seamless cotton jumpers. However, 3D knitting has not yet been applied to produce waterproof garments, since existing multi-layer WBTs require traditional cut-and-sew production. Since we produce our WBT from a single material, we can use digital 3D knitting to produce high-performance seamless garments. SHIMA SEIKI's WHOLEGARMENT Mach2XS knitting machine can knit a custom jacket in 90 minutes, delivering an annual production capacity of 5,000+ jackets from a single machine(Los\_Angeles\_Times\_2017).2\.**Planet.** Our mono-material WBT will be 100% recyclable and PFC-free. In addition, 3D knitting is zero waste. Cut-and-sew production typically leaves about one fifth of fabric on the cutting room floor (EPRS\_2019).3\.**Profit.** Working with leading British clothing brands, our innovative material will help organisations deliver on their sustainability targets, supporting the UK clothing industry to 'build back better' post-COVID-19\.

防水透气服装通常由层压的多层结构组成，包括耐用的防水涂覆的外壳织物、防水透气膜和衬里材料。这些织物粘合在一起形成多层结构，并将织物片缝合在一起生产服装。为防止接缝沿着泄漏，用胶带密封。这种方法提供了高性能的服装，但受到三个关键缺点的限制：使用与环境有关的化学品。高性能膜通常由膨胀型聚四氟乙烯（ePTFE; Gore-Tex）制成，其具有固有的防水、防风和化学惰性。然而，消费者要求品牌去除全氟化碳（全氟和多氟化学品）的压力越来越大，因为这些有害化学品在释放到环境中时会持续存在并发生生物累积（经合组织，2013年）。** 没有可持续的报废解决方案。**多材料纺织品无法分离，在使用寿命结束时面临垃圾填埋或焚烧。在垃圾填埋场，塑料随着时间的推移缓慢分解，产生有害的微塑料，并在环境中持久存在（经合组织，2013年）。在焚烧过程中，防水透气纺织品（WBT）中使用的PTFE膜已被证明会产生剧毒的氢氟酸，氢氟酸在典型的市政焚烧炉中转化为氟石（Aleksandrov\_et\_al\_2019）。3\**廉价劳动力的需求 **与服装生产相关的高人工劳动意味着制造需要大量的布料裁剪师和缝纫机操作员。中国约占世界纺织品出口额的38%（WTO\_2019）。最近在莱斯特的封锁使纺织工人的状况更加突出，据报道，工人的工资远远低于英国的最低工资（低至3.50英镑/小时），在不安全的条件下工作，在封锁期间很少或没有社交距离Amphibio是一家总部位于伦敦的微型中小企业，由Jun Kamei于2018年11月创立，设计师和材料科学家探索可穿戴超疏水多孔膜的潜在商业应用。在Innovate UK的支持下，我们将开发一个创新的WBT，提供三个P的三重底线：人，地球和利润：1。人。**我们将使用数码3D针织开发自动化的整体服装制造流程，从而消除对廉价劳动力的需求。优衣库在2017年推出了3D针织系列，现在正在使用3D针织来生产无缝棉毛衣。然而，3D针织尚未应用于生产防水服装，因为现有的多层WBT需要传统的裁剪和缝纫生产。由于我们使用单一材料生产WBT，因此我们可以使用数字3D针织来生产高性能无缝服装。SHIMA SEIKI的WHOLEGARMENT Mach 2XS针织机可以在90分钟内编织出定制夹克，单台机器的年产量为5，000多件夹克（Los\_Angeles\_Times\_2017）。星球。**我们的单材料WBT将是100%可回收和无PFC的。此外，3D针织是零浪费。裁剪和缝纫生产通常会在裁剪室地板上留下约五分之一的织物（EPRS\_2019）。3\.**利润。**通过与英国领先的服装品牌合作，我们的创新材料将帮助组织实现其可持续发展目标，支持英国服装业在COVID-19后“重建得更好”。