SBIR Phase I: Innovative recyclable nylon textile yarns

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project includes reducing textile waste entering the landfills, which is nearly 28 billions pounds a year in the US alone. The project focuses on new and disruptive ways of manufacturing novel nylon fibers for the textile industry in such a way that less pollutive monomaterial clothing can be realized. The modified nylon fibers will significantly improve the material properties of the fibers, particularly their elasticity and recovery enabling it to replace pollutive elastic polyurethane based fibers such as elastane (lycra). The improvement in these properties makes the use of the modified nylon fibers 100% recyclable while maintaining their comfort and stretch. The main beneficiaries of the technology are consumer apparel companies that will incorporate the improved fibers into their textile products. Reuse of the raw material rather than disposing them at landfill means 100% of these materials are regenerated into fresh new products with zero environmental impact with a nylon that has nearly 5x lower carbon footprint. The company has developed the chemistry concept behind the project to enable creation of nylon yarns and accessories used in apparel creation that mimic the performance of blended fibers (such as nylon/elastane) to enable creation of monomaterial clothing. The estimated total addressable market size for the modified nylon is $7B. The company intends to commercialize its products initially for consumer textile manufacturers, including athleisure apparel and fashion brands. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to create a nylon fiber with built-in stretch/recovery. This will enable replacement of pollutive spandex (elastane) fibers from performance apparel. The modification of nylon with proprietary additives with a potential 20% increase in stretch and recovery respect to the unmodified Nylon fibers will enable removal of spandex (elastane) from blended yarns. This monomaterial approach will negate the need for disassembly of blended fibers during recycling with a target of 100% recyclability. With the current chemistry modifications, the company has already achieved an enhanced nylon fiber that has >20% stretch and ~100% recovery compared to unmodified Nylon. This project aims to understand the stretch/recovery performance of fibers and whole fabrics that use the modified Nylon monofiber. Multiple material characterization techniques will be used during the project to characterize the materials, including X-ray diffraction and scanning calorimetry to assess crystallinity; thermogravimetric analysis for degradation and other techniques to measure tensile properties. The company will develop a set of fibers and yarns with varying degrees of modification of the nylon. 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.