Sustainable & Functional Textiles
Textiles are in every fibre of our lives. From clothing and home furnishings to advanced medical applications such as artificial heart valves.
Society faces complex issues. Sustainable and functional materials can help tackle these problems. The research group Sustainable & Functional Textiles (SFT) develops innovative concepts and products through practice-oriented research in collaboration with industry and education.
Our expertise
Collaborative, open-minded and innovative textile research, driven by impact and integrity
Our focus includes recycling textile materials, processing sustainable fibres and textile analysis to improve quality and sustainability. We develop knitting technologies and integrate sensors and actuators into textiles for smart applications. With a user-centred design approach, we ensure that innovations meet real-world needs. We also drive improvements in textile processing to optimise efficiency and sustainability. Through these efforts, we are shaping a smarter, more sustainable future for textiles.
Test & Prototyping labs
Textiles today are much more than just producing fabrics. You will discover this in our unique test & development laboratories with capabilities including textile recycling, analysis, weaving, knitting and confection.
Do you have questions or want to collaborate?
Get in touch!
Jens Oelerich
Our focus
The main research areas of research group Sustainable & Functional Textiles are:
Sustainable textiles
This line of research focuses on studying the opportunities and challenges for a circular and more sustainable textile industry. Our Circular Textile Lab enables rapid prototyping of circular textiles, using both recycled and virgin materials. Working closely with industry partners, we carry out a wide range of projects related to the circular textile value chain. Examples include using spectroscopic analytical tools for textile sorting, optimising chemical and mechanical recycling processes and investigating different applications of recycled fibres in yarns and fabrics.
Functional textiles
Functional Textiles are having a major impact in a wide range of sectors: from fashion to technical applications. In healthcare, they are paving the way for smart clothin that can monitor vital functions, accelerate wound healing and provide therapeutic benefits. Integrating smart materials into textiles brings a new level of interaction between textiles and the environment, leading to improved user experiences and new applications.
Collaborate
Society faces complex issues. Smart and functional materials can help address these problems. The digitalisation of supply chains makes it possible to bring innovations to market quickly. Our research group develops innovative concepts and products through practice-based research in collaboration with companies, researchers and students.
Research can be carried out on an contract basis. Together with the business developers, a tightly framed research plan is set up with a budgeted number of hours for conducting the research and use of machinery/material.
As a client, you can place an assignment with students of the bachelor Fasion & Textile Technologies or the master Innovative Textile development. The student works in-house with the client, and is supervised by the educational programme. If needed, the research group can step in for advice or help by lending machines.
In the Smart Solutions Semester, a group of students from different (mainly technical) programme work together on an assignment from a company. The client supervises the students regarding the content, while a supervisor from Saxion supervises the students regarding the process.
Read more about our collaborations
CollaborateEducation
The research group is involved in the following programmes:
Our partners
Our researchers
