Bobingen,

Trevira at the Techtextil Fairs 2013

Innovative and versatile: fibres and filaments for technical textiles

Trevira is intensifying its activities in the field of technical textiles. This year the fibre and filament producer will not only be appearing again in June at the Technical Fair in Frankfurt, but, for the first time, also in March at Techtextil North America in Anaheim (California/USA), and at Textile Solutions, set to take place in April as part of the Hannover fair. The Trevira programme covers fibres (including bicomponent fibres) in polyester and PLA (Ingeo™), flame retardant and other special fibres and yarns in polyester, standard and spun-dyed filaments, as well as microfilament and hybrid yarns.

Filament yarns for standard and special applications

Trevira filaments cover a broad range of applications for technical textiles. Flame retardant yarns for the construction of exhibition stands and print base materials (Trevira CS) are now standard. In addition, there are special yarns for medicine and hygiene textiles, as well as textured PBT filaments as a basis for transdermal patches and bandages.

Hybrid yarns constitute an important specialty. Here a low-melt component (NSK) is combined with a Trevira standard or flame retardant filament.

Using thermal treatment, textile fabrics made from these hybrid yarns can be controlled and shaped almost at will, and finally fixed in this state. They can in fact also be described as thermoplastic composites / prepregs. The single-material composition of these products (100% Polyester) means they can be recycled. They can be finished in a variety of ways, all energy-saving, and they are dyeable and printable. This makes them an interesting alternative, in both ecological and economic terms, since a stiffening coating of acrylate, for example, becomes superfluous. When used in combination with flame retardant Trevira filaments the materials satisfy important international fire standards.

Mixing Trevira NSK filaments with glass and/or carbon filament makes it possible to produce high-performance thermoplastic composites or prepregs, e.g. for vehicle construction.

Staple fibres for special applications

With staple fibres Trevira continues to focus on customer-specific product developments. Standard elements in the delivery programme are short-cut fibres for airlaid and wetlaid applications, for instance in hygiene products or the paper industry. Flame retardant fibres are also increasingly to be found in nonwoven products.

The extensive range in bico fibres comprises the various raw material combinations, such as PET/PE, PET/Co-PET and PET/PBT. Bico fibres in core-sheath technology are used primarily in the manufacture of thermally bonded materials (non-wovens), for instance in the automotive sector, for insulation and filtration materials, and also for hygiene products.

In new developments within its fibre programme Trevira is focusing more and more on ecological solutions. The sustainability concept in this product range is mainly based on optimising existing products in the PES fibre programme, such as a PET/PE fibre with low melting point. This saves energy during processing and/or allows a higher operational throughput. In addition, the range of fibres in biopolymers (PLA) for a variety of technical applications has been extended. It now includes a PLA/PLA bicofibre that is currently at the commercialisation stage.

Recycling is also an important issue. At Trevira headquarters in Bobingen work is proceeding on the development of a concept for recycling Trevira products.

Overview