CeNTI -
Textiles with essential oils for health and well-being
Blending nature with nanotechnology to create the next generation of functional textiles: this was the central purpose of NEO4Future.
The Project focused on the research and development of sustainable textile filaments with encapsulated and/or fixed essential oils (EOs), integrated into multifunctional structures in order to preserve their therapeutic properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and odour control, throughout industrial processing and across the material’s lifetime.
The Project consortium, led by the Portuguese company FITEXAR and drawing on the know-how of Blossom Essence, Smart Inovation, CeNTI and the University of Beira Interior (UBI), also included an international partnership with the British company Noroqest.
The innovation factor
The Project NEO4Future brought together multidisciplinary skills, methodologies and advanced technological processes, which enabled the following results to be achieved:
- Essential oils (EOs): extraction of EOs from biological sources for integration into textile structures, providing therapeutic properties - antimicrobial, antioxidant and odour control - with controlled and gradual release of their active principles into the fabrics.
- Encapsulation and fixation: development of processes for the encapsulation and/or fixation of EOs in biocompatible (nano)porous structures, ensuring the integrity of their properties and their processability in conventional extrusion lines.
- Filaments and textile structures: production of filaments from bio-based polymer matrices via melt-spinning, and development of high-performance, functional textile structures incorporating EOs.
- Validation and performance: studies carried out to ensure the stability and integrity of EO properties across the different stages, from production to the final use of the textile.
This Project enabled the development of a new generation of textiles designed to respond to market needs, namely garments that combine functionality, well-being and increased environmental sustainability, while simultaneously contributing to strengthening the competitiveness of the Portuguese textile industry.
NEO4Future was co-financed by Portugal 2020, under COMPETE 2020, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), within the scope of Thematic Objective OT1 – Strengthening research, technological development and innovation, with implementation in Northern and Central Portugal.