Graphene modified fiber:Enjoying innovative application in all walks of life

By Zhao Zihan

Graphene is regarded as the king of new materials. Bio-graphene， as a member of the graphene family， has its own unique properties in addition to the general graphene properties， such as low-temperature far-infrared function and superior antibacterial property.

2018 China Graphene Modified Fiber and Application Industry Development Union （hereinafter referred to as “Union”） Annual Conference was held in Jinan City， Shandong Province on December 15th. Nearly 150 people from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， the national textile and garment industry organizations， industrial clusters， enterprises， colleges and media attended the meeting. This annual meeting was divided into two parts： the graphene modified fiber in- novation report meeting and the third session of the first council of the Union.

Tang Yilin， Chairman of the Union and Chairman of Shengquan Group， said in his speech that since the establishment of the Union， under the support and guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， and with joint efforts of the member units of the Union as well as the upstream and downstream units of the industry， the Union has been enjoying continuously expanded influence and witnessing an increase of its member units to more than 130 from over 80 at the beginning of the establishment. They have reached a consensus to jointly promote material innovation and industry progress.

In addition， the Union is actively working with China National Textile and Apparel Council to accelerate the development of graphene modified fiber standards. Tang Yilin pointed out that in order to achieve long-term development of graphene modified fiber， innovation is the key. The Union will strengthen exchange and cooperation among the members， and jointly break through the “bottleneck” that restricts the application and promotion for increasingly better development of graphene modified fiber.

How is the fiber applied？

At the morning report of the graphene modified fiber innovation results， experts from colleges， industry associations and enterprises shared the R&D; innovation and the latest application of graphene modified fiber.

Professor Wang Chaosheng from Donghua University， gave a keynote speech on “Research Progress in Graphene Modified Polyester and Polyamide 6 Fiber”， and conducted an in-depth discussion on the research of graphene polyester antistatic composite fiber and graphene polyamide 6 flame retardant fiber. For the future development of graphene fiber， he said that “diversity， intelligence and high-performance” will become a new system of graphene products， while more efforts will be made in terms of intelligent and functional fibers， biomedical fibers， high-performance fibers and composite materials， civil engineering and protective fibers， and ecological and circulating fibers. In the future， in terms of R&D;， it is required to achieve multi-functionality in the aspects of fiber appearance， skin-friendlyness， function and comfort in order to realize customized products to meet the diversified needs of consumers.

Zheng Hao， designer of Graphene High-performance Apparel R&D; Center of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology， talked about the development of highperformance apparels from bio-graphene fiber. Graphene fiber fabric has the functions of low temperature and far infrared， bacteria resistance and bacteriostasis， moisture guiding and quick dry. The Center is oriented towards ergonomic research， sports fashion technology， smart apparel design and functional garment design. In the future， the development of bio-graphene fiber highperformance apparel will promote the design of light and warm garments to help the competitive sports， and enhance the comfort feeling through smart fibers to help the mass sports. YORRO TANG is the trend-oriented sportswear brand for the future， targeting the forerunner in the exploration and experimental application of textile materials. The technology-rich apparel products will bring the ultimate wearing experience to fashion sports enthusiasts and can help them explore the smart lifestyle of the future.

Huang Shaoting， Head of Corporate Communications of Nox Bellcow Cosmetics Co.， Ltd.， made a report on the development of innovative applications of biographene in the field of facial masks. According to her， the analysis of the beauty market in recent years indicates that the demand for black masks by young people is growing. The black mask is popular， and the mask substrate itself is constantly being upgraded to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for facial masks. Shengquan Group and Nox Bellcow are in close and strong cooperation to break through the technical difficulties， creatively applying the innovative new material graphene to the facial mask field.

Lei Yubiao， Deputy General Manager of Guangdong Gadetin Daily Necessities Co.， Ltd.， introduced the new graphene hair mask technology at the conference. It is introduced that Gadetins innovative bio-graphene hair care cap not only has the good thermal conductivity and conductive magnetic permeability of graphene， but also has such features as unique super strong adsorption， far infrared emission， efficient bacteriostat， generation of negative ions， promotion of micro-circulation and natural care.

Liu Jiaqiang， Vice President of China Wool Textile Association， gave a keynote speech entitled “The Prospect of Applying Graphene Materials in the Wool Textile Industry”. According to him， Chinas wool textile industry uses wool， cashmere and other special animal fibers and wool fibers as raw materials， including various product categories from raw materials primary processing to yarns， fabrics， artificial fur， blankets， sweaters and others. Bio-graphene is made from natural plant straws and has significant characteristics such as far infrared and antibacterial. The bio-graphene Healfiber material can be widely used in apparel， underwear， home textiles， facial masks， medical care and other fields. For the application of graphene fibers in the wool textile industry， Liu Jiaqiang proposed to convert the concept into technical specifications such as product structure performance， specifications， quality and inspection methods， and then develop industry-recognized standards.

In addition， graphene materials fit the new positioning of the textile industry： technology， fashion， and sustainability， enjoying a good selling point. The Union， as a good promotion platform， is required to expand its intervention in the fields of application and consumption.

Li Xiongyou， General Manager of Sinopec Qilu Branch Acrylic Fiber Factory， shared the research on“Development of Functional Graphene Dry-Spun Acrylic Fibers”. The researchers from both Shengquan Group and Sinopec Qilu Branch Acrylic Fiber Factory， over a long series of trials， finally succeeded in combing graphene and dry-spun acrylic fibers， obtaining high-quality composite functional fiber with good antistatic property， electrical conductivity and antibacterial property， warm and soft. Starting from May 2018， the company produced the main equipment of 1，000-ton capacity. It is expected that all the main equipment of the pilot plant will be manufactured completely before the end of 2018.

Peng Guobao from Shandong Shengquan BioGraphene Research Institute introduced the biomass graphene modified fiber identification and the exploration of its impacts on human microcirculation improvement. Raman Spectrometer can accurately identify whether graphene fiber is contained or not. ICP-AES can tell whether it is mineral graphene or biomass graphene. The results of the hyperthyroid microcirculation observer and laser Doppler flowmeter show that the biographene modified fiber absorbs the far infrared energy of the human body （including some environments） and the temperature will increase to the human skin. Biographene modified fibers cause skin heat， stimulate skin heat receptors， reduce capillary tension， expand blood vessels， promote microcirculation， and improve local and systemic blood circulation. （The demonstration of blood flow analysis and detection system based on video recognition was carried out at the same time.）

At the third session of the first council of the Union in the afternoon， Tang Diyuan， General Secretary of the Union， reviewed the work of the Union in 2018. During the meeting， 35 enterprises were newly co-opted as vice president units， executive members of the Union， and Union members respectively， followed by the opening ceremony of the Analysis and Testing Center of the Union.

In the end， 12 member units were conferred“China Graphene Modified Fiber Innovation Application Achievement Award”， while 4 member units were awarded as “China Graphene Modified Fiber Innovation Application Demonstration Base”.