Sailors face all kinds of dangers during at-sea deployments. But improvements to a special suit—developed by Propel LLC with input from sailors themselves—promise to lessen one specific danger. 

The Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University (NC State) is known for turning out textile professionals. Now it’s also turning out socks made by students—and a robot.

Biotechnology company LanzaTech, Skokie, Ill., is partnering with athletic apparel company lululemon to create what the companies say will be the world’s first yarn and fabric using recycled carbon emissions that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere as pollution. 

Biotechnology company LanzaTech, Skokie, Ill., is partnering with athletic apparel company lululemon to create what the companies say will be the world’s first yarn and fabric using recycled carbon emissions that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere as pollution. 

A new seamless trail running shoe by norda™ is constructed with biobased Dyneema® fiber, offering lightweight performance and sustainability. As the Canadian company’s flagship product, the norda001 shoe features a seamless upper with increased foot stability and comfort for the wearer. Dyneema fibers are also used to increase abrasion resistance and stretch in the shoelaces, providing four times the level of strength when compared to standard lace materials. 

Musical keyboards with digital interfaces (MIDI) come in many sizes, but all rest on a rigid, heavy structure. Irmandy Wicaksono from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab found a user-friendly alternative in textiles and developed an interactive textile-based musical interface, laid out in the familiar 88 keys of a piano. KnittedKeyboard II combines discrete controls from conventional keystrokes and expressive continuous controls from the noncontact theremin-like proximity sensors that respond to hands waving and hovering in the air, as well as unique physical interactions enabled by the integrated fabric sensors, such as squeezing, pulling, stretching and twisting. In addition to the keyboard providing new interactions and tactile experiences for musical expressions, it can be easily folded, rolled up and packed in luggage, or worn as a scarf. 

North Carolina State University (NC State) researchers have created insecticide-free, mosquito-resistant clothing using textile materials they confirmed to be bite-proof in experiments with live mosquitoes. They developed the materials using a computational model of their own design that describes the biting behavior of a mosquito species known to carry viruses that cause human diseases like Zika, Dengue fever and yellow fever. The researchers reported in the journal Insects that they were able to prevent 100 percent of bites when a volunteer wore the clothing—a base layer undergarment and a combat shirt initially designed for the military—in a cage with 200 live, disease-free mosquitoes. “We found we can prevent the mosquito from pushing through the fabric, while others were thick enough to prevent it from reaching the skin,” said study co-author Andre West, associate professor of fashion and textile design at NC State and director of the Zeis Textiles Extension for Economic Development. Vector Textiles, an NC State startup company, has licensed the rights to make clothing for commercial sale in the U.S. 

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have developed a biodegradable, electro-stimulating implant that can speed wound healing, including bone fractures. Xudong Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, and collaborators including Weibo Cai, professor of radiology and medical physics, created the device that’s self-powered, implantable and bioresorbable, so once the bone is knitted back together, the device’s components dissolve within the body. Bone is a piezoelectric material that produces a tiny bit of electricity when placed under strain. This stimulates factors that promote bone growth and healing, which explains why electrostimulation is an effective therapy. Wang and his co-researchers described the new bone-healing device in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Photo: UW–Madison/Jason Daley. 

Microbes on the skin can break down acids in sweat, resulting in the distinctive stinky sock smell, and natural fibers commonly used in socks, such as cotton and wool, are an ideal breeding ground for microbes. Even polyester can provide an environment for odor-causing bacteria to grow. To combat this, specialist sock brand Nodor has teamed up with antimicrobial material specialist Parx Materials to create a new range of anti-odor socks that uses an additive free of biocides and toxic substances. Saniconcentrate™, an additive developed by Parx Materials, uses no biocides, silver, nano materials or toxic substances. The technology does not fade or wear out over time, nothing leaches away from the fabric, and in addition to bacteria, the additive’s broad-spectrum antimicrobial performance has been proven to be effective against viruses, molds and fungi, biofilm and fouling. Photo: Nodor.

French footwear startup MoEa has launched a sustainable, recyclable vegan sneaker made from fruits and plants. Each pair of sneakers is made from one fruit and plant; purchasers may choose among apple, pineapple, cactus, corn and grape, and pick from two color options per fruit and plant. To stabilize the biomass waste, fruits and plants are blended with organic cotton, bio-polyurethane or recycled plastic. MoEa’s biomaterials are composed of about 49 percent plants or fruit. The shoe linings are 70 percent recycled bamboo, the soles are 40 percent recycled rubber and the insoles are made with recycled wood fibers. The recycled materials have been developed and tested to ensure they provide the same level of comfort and durability as leather. Shoe owners may also send back their old pair to be recycled into a new sneaker sole when they’re worn out. Photo: MoEa.