nova-Institute
(Source: nova-Institute)
Carbon fibers from wood, carbon-negative virgin fibers from straw and sustainable menstrual underwear – these are the winners of the "Cellulose Fibre Innovation of the Year" award, which was presented by the nova-Institute at the International Conference on Cellulose Fibres (CCF) on February 2, 2022.
The 1st place went to the German Institutes for Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF), Denkendorf/Germany, with the HighPerCellCarbon technology, a sustainable and alternative process for the production of carbon fibers from wood. The technology starts with the wet spinning of cellulose fibers using ionic liquids (IL) as a direct solvent in an environmentally friendly, closed-loop filament spinning process.
Carbon-negative virgin fibers from straw developed by Fibers365 GmbH, Lenningen/Germany, came in 2nd place. The first carbon-negative cellulose fibers from virgin straw are based on an innovative, state-of-the-art process to produce functional, carbon-negative and competitive non-wood biomass products such as cellulose virgin fibers for the paper, packaging and textile industries, as well as high-value process energy and biopolymer and fertilizer side streams.
The application-oriented functionalization of cellulose fibers from Kelheim Fibres GmbH, Kelheim/Germany, was voted 3rd place. They make an important contribution to a sustainable future in the field of reusable hygiene textiles. Through innovative functionalization, they are specifically adapted to the requirements of the individual layers and thus achieve a performance comparable to that of synthetic fibers.
Cellulosic fibers are showing great growth and an ever-widening range of applications, while at the same time markets are being driven by technological developments and political frameworks, especially bans and restrictions on the use of plastics and increasing sustainability requirements. On February 2-3, 2022, nova-Institut GmbH, Hürth/Germany, hosted the 3rd International Conference on Cellulose Fibres with 230 participants from 27 countries. About 60 were able to attend on-site in Cologne/Germany under strict Covid-19 security, while the others participated online.
An important focus of the conference was alternative sources of cellulose fibers. The increasing demand for cellulose fibers cannot be met in the long term with wood and used textiles alone. At the conference, a variety of agricultural by-products and biogenic waste, such as orange and banana peels, grain and hemp straw, were presented in lectures and panel discussions. Much of this is high-volume and has not been put to high value use so far.
