Philipp Stössel, a student at Switzerland’s ETH Zurich research institute, has collaborated with colleagues from the Advanced Fibers Laboratory at Empa St. Gallen have developed a process to produce gel-based yarn. To produce this yarn, first thing first, animal waste products such as skin, bones and tendons are obtained from a slaughterhouse. Out of this waste, collagen is rendered and converted to an aqueous gel. Then this gel is heated and isopropyl solvent is added into it.

Due to this, the proteins in the collagen precipitate at the bottom of the solution which is then removed and extruded into fine ‘endless’ filaments using a row of syringes. In an ethanol bath there are rollers over which the filament is run.

This coats the filament with ethanol and hardens them. After which they are wound together to form a yarn. This finished yarn is more lustrous than wool but the problem is, it is also more water-soluble. To find a remedy for this, Stössel, treated the material with epoxy to better bond the filaments together. He then treated it with formaldehyde to get it to harden better and then impregnated it with lanolin to make it suppler.

Since sheep’s wool is still far better when it comes to water-resistance of the yarn, presently, improvements in this direction is Philipp’s primary agenda.

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Author:Technology Blog