Ascend Performance Materials’ Acteev Protect antimicrobial odor-resisting fabric technology was named a winner at the 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards.
The awards recognize new and groundbreaking technologies used in winter apparel, outdoor, and sports products and materials. Acteev Protect was chosen for its performance across four criteria: Spark–concept, design, appeal; Desire–opportunity, differentiation; Function–innovation, functionality, insight, and Impact–cultural, environmental, business.
“We envision an Acteev world with Ascend working together with other manufacturers and innovators to create products in a wide range of applications, ranging from sheets and pillowcases to scrubs and hospital gowns, athleisure wear and even socks, swimwear and intimate apparel, Nikki Huffman, the principal business development leader for the Acteev textile group, said.
Acteev is made with a patent-pending technology that embeds zinc ions in a polymer to create long-lasting antimicrobial properties. The result is a fabric that destroys odor-causing bacteria and fungi. Acteev yarns and fabrics are abrasion-resistant, soft and durable, and since the zinc ions are embedded during the polymerization process, knit and woven articles made with Acteev retain their antimicrobial efficacy for up to 50 washes.
Testing on knit fabric completed at the University of Cambridge demonstrated that Acteev technology deactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, with 99.9 percent efficacy on contact. Ascend is working with governmental agencies to obtain the appropriate regulatory clearances to make specific claims in the U.S. regarding the technology’s antiviral properties.
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Also receiving a 2021 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Award in the Function category was NexTex Innovations, an Atlanta-based textile technology developer, for its TurboDry technology.
NexTex’s TurboDry technology, which launched in January last year, is a fabric that keeps users’ skin significantly drier than regular wicking materials. Its patent-pending, one-way moisture transport process mimics the same action used by trees to pull moisture from the roots into the tree. The permanent technology built into the fabric creates garments that last longer and perform better.
“We’ve received an overwhelming response from the market since our launch, and we are grateful and proud to be recognized among a number of equally innovative finalists,” Chad Lawrence, NexTex CEO, said.
Looking for greater textile innovations, Teijin Limited has established the European Sustainable Technology Innovation Center (ESTIC) in Arnhem, Netherlands, as a research and development facility tasked with developing technologies for a more sustainable world.
ESTIC will facilitate collaboration among researchers across borders to strengthen development initiatives in Teijin’s various business units. ESTIC will also undertake the challenge of developing all-new businesses that leverage the lifecycle capabilities of Teijin’s core materials and the development of green materials to support the global circular economy. This includes efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and to stimulate the hydrogen economy.
ESTIC will also establish a satellite office at Brightlands Chemelot Campus, an international open-innovation community active in performance materials, sustainable processes and biomedical solutions in Sittard-Geleen, Netherlands, to further activate communication with external innovation communities and research institutes.
Under Teijin’s medium-term management plan to continuously create accurate business opportunities and accelerate market development, the company is prioritizing initiatives to strengthen internal and external collaboration, further diversity and inclusion, and fast-track innovation, ultimately to support the company’s development of innovative products and services.
Originally established as Japan’s first rayon manufacturer in 1918, Teijin has evolved into an enterprise encompassing three core business domains: high-performance materials including aramid, carbon fibers and composites, and also resin and plastic processing, films, polyester fibers and products converting; healthcare including pharmaceuticals and home health care equipment, and IT, including B2B solutions for medical, corporate and public systems, as well as packaged software and B2C online services for digital entertainment.
The group comprises more than 170 companies and employs some 20,000 people across 20 countries worldwide. Teijin posted consolidated sales of $8 billion in the fiscal year that ended on March 31.