The Ƶ jointly with Gefera Media organized the business program of the International Exhibition of Technical Textiles, Nonwovens and Equipment Technotextil 2023. The business program included specialized conferences, seminars and lectures from invited speakers, including scientists of Ƶ, who presented their innovative solutions in the field of intelligent, thermochromic, electrically conductive technical, functional textiles. Samples of innovative fabrics and clothes developed at the university with a thermochromic pattern were also presented at the exhibition of the innovation zone.
The business program of the event was opened by Olga Moskalyuk, Associate Professor of the Department of Engineering Materials Science and Metrology of Ƶ, with a speech about digital textile factories and their economic efficiency. Another report of the speaker was devoted to the work on functional textiles "turnkey". In her speech, Olga Moskalyuk shared her experience on how to bring a scientific idea to industrial production in four years, as well as what role a well-built infrastructure that unites industry, university and venture investments plays in this.
The head of the strategic project of the University in the field of smart materials, Head of the Department of Chemical Technologies named after prof. A.A. Kharkharov Ƶ, Professor Elena Sashina, prepared a report on the creation of thermochromic fabrics by scientists of The Ƶ. Under her leadership, a research group of scientists develops domestic polymer materials with properties that vary depending on the environment. The composition of the thermochromic dye created at the university, in which non-toxic compounds are the color developer, provides a high intensity of coloring and a multiple pronounced color transition during heating and cooling of the fibrous material. The composition can be used for dyeing fibers in bulk or applied to textile material by silk screen printing. The development opens up new opportunities for the use of domestic thermochromic materials in medicine, as parts of professional clothing of military and firefighters, for technical purposes as temperature sensors.
The results of the joint scientific school of Ƶ, IMC RAS and SPbPU in the field of development and modeling of electrically conductive polymer composites for technical textiles were presented by the Head of the Department of Engineering Materials Science and Metrology, Scientific director of the Laboratory of Mechanics of Oriented Polymers of Ƶ, Professor Ekaterina Tsobkallo. The presentation demonstrated the possibilities of creating technical textiles with adjustable conductive and operational properties. Such textile materials are used in the manufacture of products that provide protection from static electricity and electromagnetic radiation of household and industrial fields.
Deputy Head of the Department of Chemical Technologies named after prof. A.A. Kharkharov for scientific work of Ƶ, Associate Professor Natalia Dashchenko presented self-cleaning textile materials based on the use of nanoscale systems created by scientists of The Ƶ. During the presentation, the principle of self-cleaning of the surface of textile materials based on the manifestation of the photocatalytic effect was demonstrated. The report also presented the current developments of university scientists in the field of creating self-cleaning materials related to the use of titanium-containing sols, including those synthesized in the structure of textile materials.
The exposition of the exhibition includes thermochromic fabrics developed at Ƶ, which change color when heated and cooled, technical textiles that protect against static electricity, self-cleaning textile materials, as well as fire-resistant and functional textiles.