Fields of work at the CD Lab 2002 - 2008
Lyocell, Modal and Viscose, an important chemical fibres group, consist of the natural raw material cellulose, as the natural fibres cotton or linen do. Within the fibre production, the fibre treatment and the different textile finishing processes a broad variation of the quality profiles of cellulose fibres can be obtained. For an efficient product design and development, an exhaustive comprehension about the connection between the various desired chemical and physical properties should be available.
Through a vertical research concept, an alteration of fibre properties during the process of formation and the different successive physical and chemical treatments will be considered simultaneous. As a result a causal chain which can be used as a tool for the explanation of the observed fibre properties and for an efficient modification of the fibre characteristics will be worked out.
In general the research topics of the Christian-Doppler Laboratory for "Textile and Fibre Chemistry in Cellulosics” covered the scientific investigation of behaviour and properties of cellulose fibres through the full textile pipeline. Besides physical and chemical investigations of the behaviour of cellulose fibres and textiles attention was given to microbiological properties and medical applications. The scientific research concentrated on
- synthesis of chemically modified man-made cellulosic fibres and textiles
- identification of important structural parameters of fibres and observation of these parameters during textile processing and consumer use
- formation of a scientific knowledge base about the wear and performance properties of fibres including medical applications.
- study of microbial properties of fibres and textiles
The diversity of topics to be treated at high scientific level has led to a complex research structure with involvement of a number of specialised research institutions and companies, part as members of the CD-research society and the CD-laboratory, part as associated companies and research groups.