Nonwovens are engineered fibrous structures that are suitable for customized design, value addition through various means, functionalization, and new applications. This field is innovative and serves the needs of consumer and industrial markets. Our path to growth is through agile development of products that meet national defense, medical, environmental protection and future needs. Sustainability, economic development activities, and systems approaches are among the few opportunities the industry can seek to diversify and grow. For example, the baby wipes sector is a growing sector and diversifying beyond everyday uses into high-tech markets will create many downstream SMEs, which will send a strong message.
Customer-centric innovation delivers timely results. A collaborative effort among various stakeholders, including academia, federal laboratories, industry, and federal agencies, has led to the commercialization of nonwoven wipes in the lifesaving field. Continued engagement with industry and user communities such as the U.S. Army has enabled multiple applications for mechanically bonded wipes in areas beyond industrial applications.
A Texas Tech University (TTU) invention has been licensed to Hobbs Bonded Fibers and commercialized by defense, emergency management, and homeland security small and medium-sized businesses. First Line Technology (FLT), a Fredericksburg, Virginia-based company specializing in emergency management, including Ambubus, a mass evacuation transportation system, is collaborating with various government agencies to develop TTU's nonwoven and advanced materials. We have translated the non-woven wipe technology developed at our research institute. . The key to this success is that FLT seeks out technologies in academic laboratories that address its core competencies. This commercialization model provides an idea for the nonwovens and textiles sector to participate in events in other sectors such as defence, chemical and biological defense, toxicology and infectious disease prevention. Prior to introducing nonwoven wipes to the defense and homeland security market, FLT did not explore innovation in the technical textile space. A connection was established with Texas Tech University and a nonwoven roll product manufacturer after seeing samples at a technology showcase by a defense contractor.
High-tech products require continuous adjustment and development so that multiple applications can evolve, as is the case with FiberTect wipes.
“Especially when dealing with markets such as security and emergency management, it requires continuous innovation and close collaboration with end users and manufacturing,” said Amit Kapur, President, First Line Technologies. .
FiberTect evolved from a request from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a decontamination product that could be used on warfighter skin and sensitive equipment. A government-funded program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based on an evaluation of 30 different wiping and cleaning technologies, found that nonwoven wipes were the best “dry wiping” and “low-cost personnel decontamination system.” (LPDS)”. This result marked the first opportunity for nonwoven wipes to penetrate many government agencies' chemical response efforts. Given the nature of the product's platform and ongoing engagement with the U.S. military, National Guard, and state/local agencies, it has been evaluated for a variety of applications, including decontamination of fine particles such as radioactive particles and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. Ta.
Investment in research and a belief in multidisciplinary collaboration paid off in FiberTect's case beyond its original purpose: decontaminating toxic substances such as mustard. Ideas need to be commercialized and a systems approach helps with quick results. For LPDS, FiberTect, a dry, non-woven wipe, is used in conjunction with a chemical that reacts with the toxin. “Commercialization of proven ideas is valuable to the U.S. economy, especially with the help of technology conceived, developed, and manufactured in the United States,” Kapur opines. For small businesses, this model works well because federal agencies such as BARDA, DARPA, NASA, and the Department of Homeland Security are constantly looking for innovative technologies for national defense and security.
First Line Technology uses FiberTect, a non-woven dry decontamination wipe, as a patient and responder decontamination wipe technology during a recent training event at Samuel Simmons Memorial Hospital in Utqiaguk, Alaska. successfully demonstrated the efficiency of The hospital is located at the northernmost tip of the United States, 550 miles above the Arctic Circle and on the Arctic Ocean. The average temperature in this area is 17°F.
Samuel Simmons Memorial Hospital is the only hospital providing medical services in Alaska's North Slope Borough. The region is prone to problems with fentanyl and other opioid addictions, and is also an oil extraction region, so initial receiving teams must be properly equipped with decontamination technology that can function in severe cold weather conditions. .
“FiberTect enables first recipients and first responders to perform effective decontamination in extreme temperatures where other decontamination approaches may not be viable,” said Director of First Line Technology. , said Corey Collings. “FiberTect nonwoven wipes can also effectively remove fentanyl and radioactive particles due to their patented construction,” he adds Collings. Government customers such as the U.S. Army investigated Fibertect's performance during Exercise Arctic Eagle in Alaska in 2022.
Cooperation with government agencies has proven to be extremely important and beneficial. Research conducted by the Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Defense focused on evaluating non-aqueous technologies for personnel decontamination. FiberTect wipes were found to be superior to other products used in the field, including his JPM-P technology, in decontaminating particulate contamination, including radioactive particles and synthetic toxic particles. An interesting result is that the nonwoven wipes can be used even at subzero temperatures, where water-based technologies are not applicable.
As with FiberTect, high-end applications are delivered through stakeholder collaboration and continuous product development based on feedback.
Nonwoven wipes made using mechanical bonding can save lives and contribute to society, including preventing the opioid epidemic, decontaminating radioactive particles, nerve agents and mustard agents, as well as toxic industrial chemicals. I'm finding a use for it.
Agreeing on the benefits of systems approaches such as 'Hybrid Decon', in which FiberTect is a key component, Mr. Kapur said: “Finding multiple applications strengthens the market. We are pleased that nonwoven wipe technology has attracted the attention of chemical reaction teams in many government agencies in the United States, as well as in many in Australia, Sweden, Eastern Europe, and Canada. Institutions use FiberTect for its structural features and multifaceted uses.”
The nonwovens sector should explore applications in the lifesaving and defense sectors and already has many products that have proven their value and application in non-traditional areas.
