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A »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â (»ÆÉ«²Ö¿â) Leicester professor is leading pioneering work in sustainable textiles that could shape the future of the industry.

Professor Jinsong Shen, Professor of Textile Chemistry and Biotechnology has received new funding from Engineering and Physical Sciences Council (EPSRC) research to tackle harmful “forever chemicals” in textiles alongside Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) follow-on funding to continue pioneering work making it possible to recycle textiles made from blended fibres, previously sent to landfill.

In the first project, Professor Shen will work with a team led by Professor Manish Tiwari, University College London (UCL) as a collaboration between UCL, »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â and Leeds University to develop innovative and sustainable technology to make clothes soil and liquid repellent. Currently, this effect is often achieved using PFAS — “forever chemicals” that are now being phased out due to their environmental and health risks.

PFAS are being regulated out of use because of their harmful effects on health and the environment. They can take thousands of years to break down, build up in people and wildlife, and have been linked to serious health risks.

Professor Shen will help develop new sustainable PFAS-free amphiphobic coatings for textiles, designed to be soil/liquid repellent, durable and scalable for industry. These innovations could be applied across sectors from clothing and healthcare to construction, military and automotives textiles.

Alongside this Professor Shen has just secured follow-on funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to continue his ground-breaking work on recycling wool and wool blend fabrics.

The project has shown how enzymes can be used to separate out fibres from blended fabrics like wool, flax and hemp into their constituent parts, making them easier to reuse and recycle. The team also successfully recovered dyes from waste fabrics that can also be used again.

Blended fabrics such as wool mixed with flax or hemp are notoriously difficult to recycle because the different fibres are tightly twisted together and need to be recycled in different ways. Professor Shen’s team has shown that enzyme-based biotechnology can  cleanly separate fibres in the blends, allowing them to be upcycled and reused.

Professor Shen said “In the past years, »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â Textile Engineering and Materials research group (TEAM) made immense efforts to develop innovative technologies for improving the textile sustainability. I am thrilled that these bids have been awarded , we continue to support the textile industry’s transition to a circular textile economy, particularly in removing harmful substances from the textiles supply chain. From our BBSRC follow-on project, we will collaborate with Loughborough University and industrial partners to improve the biotechnology and build up a commercial set-up for recovering fibres and dyes from textile wastes to achieve a textile circularity”.

Together, the two projects highlight »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â’s growing impact in circular textiles research from designing safe alternatives to harmful chemicals to creating new ways of keeping fabrics in use for longer.

Professor Shen’s work builds on the »ÆÉ«²Ö¿â’s heritage in textiles innovation while addressing modern challenges of sustainability, climate change and resource efficiency.