From Lab to Label^TM

Local & Global Impact

The use of fabrics, textiles and fibres derived from petroleum or petrochemicals dominate markets, but we have long known they are unsustainable. We simply can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing!

Hub researchers are looking at several ways to improve sustainability by:

• modifying and improving natural fibres
• developing processes that are carbon neutral or capture carbon
• finding applications for fibres that have less environmental impact
• assessing compostability of existing or new fibre types

Back to Beginnings

Ultimate sustainability is when a raw material can be manufactured, used and returned to the start of the process to manufactured again into a new product. In the fibre industry, this is a particularly challenging problem.

Our teams are addressing this by:

• understanding the pathways of fibre degradation in existing processes
• examining new materials and blends that are more robust in the manufacturing process
• understanding the gaps in existing technologies for fibre and textile recycling

What if

Your clothing could measure your heart rate, temperature and blood oxygen saturation. Or it could protect you from serious injury by what it is made from or the way it is designed.

Material scientists at the Hub are delving into these questions and more by:

• deep diving into Graphene and MXene materials
• developing new types of carbon fibre precursors, carbon fibres and composites with even better performance
• looking at all steps along the fibre value chain where changes yield novel outcomes in the end-product