Composites produced by waste fabric

The global demand for textile products is steadily increasing. In addition, «fast fashion» trend decreases the lifetime of textiles. 75 million tons of textile are used, and only a few per cent of the overall textile waste flow is recycled. Among all type of textiles, about 30% contain cellulose fibers, either alone or mixed with other types of matter. Only about 15% of textile are recycled, and only about 1% is up-cycled mainly focused on spinning cellulose fibers. The Ph.D. program is part of a national project divided into several areas of study. In our area of focus, we propose using the "all-cellulose composite" approach to upcycle cellulose-based waste textiles, including cotton, flax, viscose, Tencel, and polycotton. This approach allows for the production of various materials: i) materials that respect the initial fabric's architecture; ii) composites with oriented short and long plant fibers produced by extracting fibers from waste fabrics; and iii) 3D objects created using direct ink writing. The PhD student will primarily focus on point ii. He will explore methods of extracting fibres from textile waste in order to produce individual short and long fibres. He will also examine the adhesion between fibres and the continuous cellulose phase, as well as the efficiency of unidirectional composites made from individualised bast fibres. Correlations will be established between processing methods, material morphology and properties. The new materials will undergo life cycle analysis. These new materials will be used in composite sectors.

Working Laboratory: Centre de recherche sur les Ions, les MAtériaux et la Photonique (UMR 6252)

Partner Laboratory: Centre de Mise en Forme des Matériaux (CEMEF)

Work in Alençon, France

Student's master 2, Mechanics of Materials course. Attraction toward the experimentation evidence. Seriousness, autonomy and required rigor.