Textil Santanderina and the University of Cantabria, led by Fotoglass consultants, presented this morning the Wondrous® high luminosity technical fabric, which maintains its high visibility properties after 30 washes and also has long-lasting phosphorescence. It is the result of a joint research project carried out over a period of twelve months.
The press conference, which took place in the auditorium of the University of Cantabria, was attended by the Rector José Carlos Gómez Sal; the CEO of Textil Santanderina, Juan Parés Boj; the scientific advisor of Fotoglass and leader of the Optics research group, Fernando Moreno Gracia, and Juan Marcos Sanz Casado, head of R+D+i of the textile company.
INNOVATION
The main novelty of Wondrous® is, as Sanz Casado explained, that it maintains phosphorescence for more than 120 minutes even after 30 washing cycles, regardless of the composition of the fabric.
The resulting fabric therefore has the ability to emit light when subjected to constant light stimulus, i.e. for very short periods of time, and the ability to emit long-lasting phosphorescence in the absence of light stimulus. In addition, the starting fabrics maintain their mechanical properties, good feel, flexibility, comfort and breathability and maintain their thermal characteristics, as well as high visibility, where applicable.
Wondrous® can be used in various fields such as safety, domestic, sports, health and others.
It can be used for the manufacture of any type of article without any limitation (waistcoats, overalls, aprons, gowns, sportswear...) The product that is ready for commercialisation is developed following the "Procedure for the manufacture of long-lasting phosphorescent fabrics and fabrics obtained from the same", patented by Textil Santanderina and the University of Cantabria. This invention describes a new procedure for the manufacture of long-lasting phosphorescent fabrics, and of garments comprising this fabric for use in areas such as security, domestic, sports, health or professional use, among others.
RESEARCH PROJECT
Both the product presented this morning and the new procedure for its manufacture are the result of the research project "Nanotex l: research for obtaining new textile products based on nanotectnology", developed by the research group of Fernando Moreno Gracia, its coordinator.
Francisco González Fernández, also a scientific advisor to Fotoglass, acted as technical director.Juan Marcos Sanz Casado, now R&D&I technician transferred to Textil Santanderina; Rodrigo Alcaraz de la Osa and José María Saz Vega, from Moreno's research group, have also played a key role in the development of the product, together with the Techs department of the Cantabrian company, specialised in technical textiles and led in "Nanotex I" by Roberto González.
Nanotex's objective, in the year of its duration, was to initiate a planned line of industrial research with the aim of acquiring new knowledge and techniques that would be useful for the creation of new textile products based on the nanometric range, which would present novel properties or improve those of existing products. In particular, efforts have focused on photoluminescence, light directionality and obtaining field concentrations or "HotSpots".
