STTR Fast-Track: Photonic Particles and Fibers for Textile Tracing

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Fast-Track project is to develop, and commercialize, a novel method of tracing and authenticating textile materials. Counterfeit textiles are a growing problem, with $179 million of clothing and apparel seized by United States Customs and Border Protection in 2024. These counterfeit materials not only hurt retailers and, ultimately, the United States economy, but also can contain hazardous chemicals. A key challenge currently for detecting counterfeit items is the amount of time required to test and verify that the products are genuine. The innovation to be developed by this proposal would provide a cost-efficient, non-toxic additive that integrates into existing textile manufacturing processes and permits instantaneous verification without costly laboratory testing. The proposed technology is a fraction of the cost of existing solutions on the market, and would be manufactured domestically creating safe, high-paying jobs. The low production cost coupled with a seamless digital tracking and verification system will provide a durable competitive advantage and fuel sustainable company growth. Textile and apparel manufacturers and brands are the initial customers of this technology, and its development would add to the growing revitalization of the U.S. textile industry driven by innovation. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Fast-Track project aims to address a challenge in the identification and authentication of textile fibers and materials. Counterfeit textiles are often chemically identical to genuine products and the amount of time and expense required to verify differences through traditional means (i.e. laboratory material testing) is not realistic at large scales. The research objectives of the project are to design and manufacture a novel class of tracing materials that can be integrated directly into textile materials without disrupting the manufacturing process. Once embedded, these tracing materials can be quickly scanned and verified using cost-efficient, handheld scanning systems. The tracing materials are manufactured based on recent advances in the scalable production of well-defined arrangements of micro and nanoscale materials to achieve the desired photonic properties. Once fabricated, these materials will interact with light in unique ways that can be used as identifiers to track product lifecycle and/or verify origin. The anticipated technical results include the creation of a wide array of unique identifiers, methods for incorporating those materials seamlessly into the existing textile supply chain, quantification of the performance of the material through the product life cycle, and engineering of cost efficient scanning systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.