Stretch and Recovery for Sportswear, Inspired by Spider Silk.

Abstract

The possibility of recycling clothes is highly influenced by all its components. It has been reported by various publications, that 80% of the impact of a garment is determined at the design stage, (European Clothing Action Plan, 2019. Sharfman, 1995. Graedel, T. E., Comrie, P. R. and Sekutowski, J. C, 1995.) Blended textiles are currently energy intensive to recycle, with a supply chain that is not commercially viable. Gathering post-consumer garments, sorting, and shipping to polymer and yarn producers to recycle and produce new yarns is expensive. At present, producing polymers and yarns, using virgin materials, costs less. Synthetics blends with elastane are used in sportswear but although some retailers have take-back schemes there is no way of recycling them into new garments. Although research has been undertaken to separate elastane from polyamide, currently this process is not commercially available. Taking a biomimicry approach and studying the capabilities of spider silk, a knitted mono-material solution for elastic clothes is investigated. Different knitted samples, using different yarns are tested on a tensile testing machine, repeatedly being stretched and relaxed, with the recovery noted and discussed. Ribbed knitted structures required more force to extend but recovered more than the auxetic knitted structures.

Date of Award	9 Jan 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Hugh Gong (Co Supervisor), Anura Fernando (Co Supervisor) & Celina Jones (Main Supervisor)