A METHOD FOR PRODUCING A NON-WOVEN TEXTILE, AND A NON-WOVEN TEXTILE

Abstract

The invention provides a method for producing a non-woven textile, comprising: i) applying a layer of a dispersion comprising dispersion medium and biobased first fibers (110) on a support, wherein the biobased first fibers (110) are fibers derived from a micro-organism cultured in a liquid culture medium, and wherein, prior to said applying, a plasticizer has been added to the dispersion; ii) depositing reinforcing second fibers (120) on the layer of the dispersion, wherein the reinforcing second fibers (120) are separate fibers which are not part of a fabric, and wherein the second fibers have an average length that is at least 10×the average length of the first fibers; and iii) eliminating the dispersion medium to form the non-woven textile (100) comprising a web of biobased first fibers (110). A non-woven textile, and seamless as well.

Claims

1. A method for producing a non-woven textile (100), wherein said method comprises the following steps: i) applying a layer of a dispersion comprising dispersion medium and biobased first fibers (110) on a support, wherein the biobased first fibers (110) are fibers derived from a micro-organism cultured in a liquid culture medium, and wherein, prior to said applying, a plasticizer has been added to the dispersion; ii) depositing reinforcing second fibers (120) on the layer of the dispersion, wherein the reinforcing second fibers (120) are separate fibers which are not part of a fabric, and wherein the second fibers have an average length that is at least 10×larger than the average length of the first fibers; and iii) eliminating the dispersion medium to form the non-woven textile (100) comprising a web of biobased first fibers (110).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the layer of the dispersion in step i) is applied by spraying.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising removing the non-woven textile from the support.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plasticizer is a sugar alcohol, a polyol, polyolester and/or an alpha hydroxy acid, or a combination thereof, or wherein said plasticizer comprises one or more of glycols, glyceryl triacetate, polymeric polyols, quillaia, honey, molasses, aloe vera, castor oil, glycerides, triglycerides and other mineral or organic oil.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the plasticizer comprises a combination of sorbitol and citric acid.

6. (canceled)

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein step i) is preceded by a step comprising supplying a dispersion of biobased first fibers (110), said first fibers (110) being dispersed in a dispersion medium, and eliminating at least part of said dispersion medium so as to form a web on the support; which step is performed at least once, and step i) comprises applying the layer of dispersion onto the web.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises between steps ii) and iii) a step of applying a further layer of a further dispersion on top of the layer of the dispersion, said further dispersion comprising further dispersion medium and biobased third fibers.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the biobased first fibers (110) are in the form of a biological material chosen from: fungal mycelium, yeast, algae, bacteria, cultured animal or plant cells, fibers derived from animal and/or plant cells cultured in a liquid culture medium.

10. (canceled)

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second fibers (120) are selected from natural fibers, regenerated fibers, recycled fibers, synthetic fibers, or any combination thereof, or wherein the second fibers (120) are hydrophilic.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the concentration of first fibers in the dispersion is at least 0.1% w/v, at least 5% w/v, at least 10% w/v, or at least 15% w/v.

13-16. (canceled)

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the dispersion further comprises oil droplets.

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises a step of applying and adhering at least one component to the web; wherein said at least one component is selected from the group of led-lighting, sensors, RFID tags or NFC chips, or embellishments, for example sequins, beads, cord, appliqué and lace; and wherein said at least one component is embedded in the non-woven textile without gluing or sewing the component to the non-woven textile.

19. (canceled)

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises a dyeing step, wherein dye or pigment is co-applied with at least one chosen from the first and second fibers, and wherein no liquid other than the dispersion is used to apply the dye and/or pigment.

21-24. (canceled)

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the support has a three-dimensional non-flat surface.

26-29. (canceled)

30. Non-woven textile (100), wherein said non-woven textile (100) is obtained by a method according to claim 1.

31. Non-woven textile, comprising biobased first fibres and reinforcing second fibres, wherein said first and second fibers are irreversibly embedded in an amorphous matrix comprising plasticizer; wherein the biobased first fibers (110) are fibers derived from a micro-organism that has been cultured in a liquid culture medium, and wherein the second fibers have an average length that is at least 10×longer than the average length of the first fibers.

32. The non-woven woven textile according to claim 31, wherein said plasticizer is formed from an alpha hydroxy acid and a polyol.

33. The non-woven textile according to claim 31, wherein the first fibers comprise 20-80% weight of the non-woven textile; the second fibers comprise 1-40% weight of the non-woven textile; and the plasticizer comprises 5-50% weight of the non-woven textile, wherein the combined % weight of the first fibers, the second fibers and the plasticizer is at least 65% of the weight of the non-woven textile, or at least 80%; and wherein the % weight of the second fibers is less than the % weight of the first fibers.

34. The non-woven textile according to claim 31, wherein oil droplets and/or fatty droplets are embedded in the matrix, said droplets having a maximum diameter in the range of 1 μm to 20 μm.

35. Shaped seamless garment, accessory or footwear to be worn, or any other three dimensional seamless non-woven textile product, comprising the non-woven textile according to claim 30.

36. Shaped seamless garment, accessory or footwear to be worn, or any other three dimensional seamless non-woven textile product, comprising the non-woven textile according to claim 31.

Description

[0076] The invention will now be illustrated with reference to the example section below, and with reference to the drawing wherein

[0077] FIG. 1. shows a schematic representation of a cross section of a non-woven textile;

[0078] FIGS. 2A-2C respectively show a schematic representation of another embodiment of a non-woven textile according to the invention, and a first detail and a second detail thereof;

[0079] FIGS. 3A-3C respectively show a schematic representation of yet another embodiment of a non-woven textile according to the invention, and a first detail and a second detail thereof; and

[0080] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a non-woven textile in the form of a bag that has a three-dimensional non-planar shape and which has been manufactured according to the method of the invention.

[0081] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a cross section of a non-woven textile 100 comprising first fibers 110 and second fibers 120 produced according to the invention. The first fibers 110 were derived from cultured mycelium, and dispersed in a dispersion medium. A first layer of the dispersion comprising first fibers 110 was applied to a support and second fibers 120 were added to the layer of the dispersion. A second layer of the dispersion was added on top of the first layer of the dispersion, and dispersion medium was eliminated by evaporation at room temperature. In the resulting non-woven textile, the first fibers 110 present as a continuous web, without distinguishable borders between the first fibers 110 applied in the first layer of the dispersion, and the first fibers 110 applied in the second layer of the dispersion. The second fibers 120 are embedded in the continuous web of first fibers 110.

[0082] In order to produce the non-woven textile, fungal biomass in the form of Schizophyllum commune mycelium from the group of basidiomycota, was grown in standard Malt extract in a 1 liter Duran Erlenmeyer. The growth procedure followed standard culture procedures at 30° C. and shaking at 200 rpm. Mycelium was harvested by means of Buchner filtration. Citric acid and sorbitol were pre-mixed with water, and subsequently added to the harvested mycelium comprised and the remainder of the growth medium, forming the dispersion comprising the first fibers.

[0083] In step a), a first layer of the dispersion was applied on a mold by spraying the dispersion on a solid and 3D shaped support surface with a spraying machine used for spraying paint. In step b), the dispersion medium was eliminated by means of evaporation at room temperature. The dispersion medium was evaporated until a web of mycelium (MYC) dry to the touch was formed at the support.

[0084] Steps a) an b) were repeated once more. Subsequently, in step c) a further layer of dispersion was applied on top of the web. In step d), individual second fibers, such as polyamide (PA) 100 dtex, or carded rayon (CV) 28 dtex were applied by flocking with a FK1-PRO onto the web, while carded flax (LI) was applied by hand. For example, the rayon fibers were 12 mm long with a circular circumferential surface spanning in between two ends. In a plane projected parallel to a face of the second web, the area of the first fibers covered by the second fibers was 30-50%.

[0085] Steps a), b), c) and d) were then repeated twice, and finally steps a) and b) were performed once.

[0086] The resulting non-woven textile was taken from the mold. In a cross section of the non-woven textile, no individual webs or first fibers were distinguishable, but rather presented as one single web of first fibers with the second fibers embedded within the single web of first fibers. The second fibers do not present as distinct and continuous layers in the non-woven textile. Instead, the second fibers applied in the same step are substantially aligned to either outside surface of the non-woven textile, and may be in contact with each other and may be aligned as well as crossing each other under diverse angles.

[0087] From each non-woven textile, the extension and the peak force were measured in order to evaluate the effect of the second fibers on the non-woven textile. The extension and peak force were measured according to EN13934-01, with this exception that the dimensions of the tested samples were 4×4 cm. Experiments were performed either as single experiments or in duplicate. As a control, a non-woven textile of pure mycelium was used.

[0088] Table 1 shows the effect of various second fibers on the extension and peak force

TABLE-US-00001 Sample thickness Peak distance Extension Peak force Sample (mm) (mm) (%) (N) 1a. Mycelium pure 0.26-0.45 4.7 12 14 1b. Mycelium pure 0.39-0.44 6.2 16 12 Average 14 13 2a. MYC/MYC PA 100 dtex, sprayed 0.44-0.49 4.1 10 45 2b. MYC/MYC PA 100 dtex, sprayed 0.47-0.48 5.3 13 70 Average 12 58 3a. MYC/MYC PA 100 dtex, sprayed 0.85-0.88 7.7 19 61 3b. MYC/MYC PA 100 dtex, sprayed 0.76-0.87 8.9 22 69 Average 21 65 4. MYC/LI carded, sprayed 0.59-0.66 5.8 14 88 5. MYC/CV 28 dtex, sprayed 0.31-0.33 5.3 13 21

[0089] The addition of second fiber resulted in a peak force which was 1.6-6.8×higher than non-woven textile from pure mycelium, indicating that the addition of the second fiber confers strength to the non-woven textile.

[0090] Furthermore, the skin feel of the non-woven textiles was evaluated by a panel of 5 people, who independently assessed the skin feel of the non-woven textiles comprising second fibers to be the same as the skin feel of the non-woven textile from pure mycelium.

[0091] FIG. 2A shows a schematic representation of a cross section of another non-woven textile 200 comprising first biobased fibers 210 and second reinforcing fibers 220 produced according to the invention. In the cross-section, the textile 200 has an upper outer surface 201, and a lower outer surface 202, between the first and second fibers are arranged. Though in the example shown, the first and second fibers are embedded in a single fused layer, it will be appreciated that instead the non-woven textile may comprise a stack of multiple fused layers of first and second fibers. The first fibers form a web that is reinforced by the second fibers.

[0092] FIG. 2B shows a detail of portion II-B of FIG. 2A, in which the first fibers 210 and a second fibers 220 are shown in greater detail. As can be seen, the first fibers are smaller by orders of magnitude that the second fibers 220. In the example shown, the first fibers 210, which are shown in even greater detail in FIG. 2C, have an average diameter of about 2 μm, whereas the second fibers 220 have an average diameter of about 100 μm. As can be seen, the larger second fibers 220 are substantially aligned with the upper and lower outer surfaces 201, 202 such that their center lines are substantially parallel to these surfaces 201, 202. The first fibers 210, which are much smaller, are oriented substantially randomly and are not substantially aligned with the first and second outer surfaces.

[0093] The first and second fibers are embedded in a matrix 230 comprising a plasticizer, which, besides helping to hold the first and second fibers substantially in place, also provides the non-woven textile with a degree of flexibility allowing it to be bend or folded, without breaking the non-woven textile. The plasticizer preferably comprises 5-50%, preferably 15-30% by weight of the finished non-woven textile, and preferably comprises a mixture of a polyol, such as sorbitol, and an alpha hydroxy acid, such as citric acid.

[0094] FIG. 3A shows a schematic representation of a cross section of yet another non-woven textile 300 according to the invention. In addition to biobased first fibers 310 and second reinforcement fibers 320 that are embedded in a matrix 330 which comprises a plasticizer and optionally any remaining dispersing medium. Further shown are oil droplets 340 which are embedded in the matrix 330 and can have various sizes, with the maximum diameter of each oil drop typically in the range of between 1 μm and 20 μm. The oil droplets 340 may be used for a delayed control or controlled release of beneficial fat-soluable components, and in the present example comprise oil of aloe vera, which provides a nice scent. The oil droplets 340 typically have an average diameter which is larger than the average length of the first fibers, e.g. at least 5 times larger than an average length of the first fibers 310.

[0095] FIG. 4 shows a perspective line drawing of a non-woven textile 400 according to the invention, formed as a non-planar shape, here in the form of a hand-bag. The non-woven textile 400 has been manufactured by applying a layer of a dispersion onto a non-planar support (not shown) that has positive shape of the non-woven textile 400. The layer is typically applied either by spraying the dispersion onto a non-planar 3D-surface of the support, and/or by using a brush to apply the dispersion to the support. After the layer of dispersion, which comprises a dispersion medium, first biobased fibers as well as a plasticizer, was applied, a layer of reinforcing second fibers were deposited onto the layer of dispersion, after which the two layers were allowed to dry to form the non-woven textile 400. The non-woven textile 400 comprises a circumferential surface 401, which is provided with ridges 402, as well as with dimples 403. In the present example, the layer of dispersion was applied on a flexible support, and after the second fibers were applied and the dispersion medium was eliminated to form the non-woven textile 400, the flexible support was collapsed and removed from the inner side of the textile 400. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that additionally or instead one or more supports can be used for creating a positive or negative shape, e.g. in ways similar to casting molds used in casting processes, to allow easy removal of the non-woven textile from the support(s). By using one or more supports, the final product may be produced free from stitches or glued seams or the like.