Development of sustainable and biodegradable inks for e-textile printing

电子纺织品（E-textiles）是结合电子功能的先进纺织品，其可以包括导电互连、传感器、致动器、信号处理和无线通信。示例包括服装加热器、发光织物和用于监测健康状况（例如心率、体温）的传感服装。电子纺织品已被用于许多应用，如运动/健身服，工作服和医疗保健。电子纺织品也被确定为可穿戴技术中使用的五大关键技术之一-这是一个快速增长的领域，2022年市场规模为810亿美元，预计到2033年将增长到161美元。聚合物将由可再生资源制成的成分开发，并在产品生命周期结束时进行生物降解。油墨的应用将通过在三种不同的可生物降解纺织品上开发基于织物的加热器来展示。这笔资金将使SFI能够与NU合作开发新的油墨，NU在开发基于可再生资源的可生物降解聚合物方面有着良好的记录。项目的成功将为公司的产品组合增加新的产品。该项目还将导致合作，可以开发更多的可持续油墨，最终为电子纺织品实现提供完全可持续和可生物降解的油墨产品组合。新油墨将为未来的应用开发提供支持，并带来新的商业机会，同时有助于实现可持续发展和净零目标。

Electronic textiles (E-textiles) are advanced textiles incorporating electronic functionality which can include conductive interconnects, sensors, actuators, signal processing, and wireless communications. Examples including a garment heater, light-emitting fabric, and sensing clothing to monitor health conditions (e.g. heart rate, body temperature). E-textiles have been used in many applications such as sports/fitness wear, workwear, and healthcare. E-textiles have also been identified as one of the five key technologies used in wearable technology -- a fast growing area with a market size of $81 billion in 2022 and this is projected to grow to $161 by 2033\.This project will develop sustainable inks for e-textile manufacturing by printing. Polymers will be developed from ingredients which are made from renewable sources and which biodegrade at the end of the product life cycle. The application of the inks will be demonstrated by developing a fabric-based heater on three different biodegradable textiles.The funding will enable SFI to develop new inks in collaboration with NU which has an established track record developing biodegradable polymers based on renewable sources. Project success will add new products to the company portfolio. The project will also result in a collaboration which can develop additional sustainable inks ultimately resulting in a fully sustainable and biodegradable product portfolio of inks for e-textile realisation. The new inks will underpin future application development and bring new commercial opportunities, while contributing to sustainability and net zero targets.