Lotus plant inspires self-cleaning yarn

Lotus leaves are covered with structures that repel surface water, which washes off dirt or dust as it runs off. A super-hydrophobic filament yarn developed by TWD Fibres GmbH, Deggendorf, Germany, achieves the same self-cleaning effect without external chemical treatment. DIOLEN®CLEAN is created using a specialized spinning process that integrates the self-cleaning effect into the yarn itself. The yarn exhibits significantly better cleaning characteristics than external chemical applications in all of the current tests for abrasion, weathering and washing. Research results on DIOLEN CLEAN were presented at the 51st Dornbirn, Austria, Man-Made Fiber Congress in September 2013. TWD Fibres expects the product to go to market in 2014.