Worldwide production of nonwovens in 2012 was around 7.8 Mt (around 268 billion square metres) with a value of some USD 28.2 billion. Unifi has built its Repreve (spunlaid nonwoven) recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibre into a highly successful brand. Introduced by Freudenberg Nonwovens Lutradur ECO with Repreve is unlikely, however, to be found in diapers or other disposable hygiene products. Instead, the target markets include substrates for wall coverings, carpet backings, landscape materials and geotextiles, and substrates for coated fabrics. The fabric could also find favour with the automotive sector. Freudenberg has already been making strides in the automotive sector with its nonwoven carpet (Lutraflor), which it makes entirely from polyester (PES) in a composite construction using a layer of staple masterbatch-dyed fibre on a spunlaid nonwoven substrate. Captimax media is for use in fuel filters in passenger and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, as well as off-road machinery. According to its developer the media can filter micron-sized particles and has a high dust-holding capacity, allowing manufacturers of fuel filters to make products with a given capacity that are smaller. Captimax media are made from a homogenous blend of PES and cellulose microfibres, these microfibres being made using a technology called Cyphrex. The PSA Peugeot Citroen group is one of the automobile manufacturers now in the process of replacing the polyurethane (PU) foam in the seating of its standard vehicles with melt-bonded nonwovens. The potential for nonwovens in electric vehicles is in battery separators4 and this has attracted the interest of companies. Freudenberg has developed a battery separator made from a combination of nano- and microfibers. It is planned to develop and manufacture the next generation of high-performance and affordable separators for energy-storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries and ultra-capacitors. The current weight of the batteries required for electric vehicles, however, is still a stumbling block, and other companies are developing alternatives, such as vehicles powered by hydrogen. The hydrogen-containing nanofibre webs can be formed into pellets that can be made to act like a fluid. As a result, hydrogen-powered cars could be refuelled from a pump in a similar way to those running on petrol or diesel fuels. The advantage of hydrogen power, compared with lithium-ion batteries, is the vehicles can then travel for longer before refuelling, about three times the duration.
Nonwovens provide vital components for electric-powered cars
Vliesstoffe bilden unerlässliche Komponenten für Elektroautos
Technical Textiles International ; 22 , 5 ; 2-8
2013
7 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 15 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
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