Where will textiles go in the future? Delegates from 12 countries discuss new directions for development

"Breaking the border, everything can be woven!" What is the future development prospect of textile science and technology? What disruptive changes will the transformation and innovation of world textile technology bring to the textile discipline and industry?

From December 1st to 4th, the first "2022 International Conference on Textile Frontier Science and Technology and the Annual Conference of the World Textile University Alliance" was held at Donghua University, and more than 110 keynote reports involving more than 60 units from 12 countries were successfully conducted. Focusing on the forefront and key issues of the entire textile discipline chain, such as modern textile processing technology, intelligent textiles, biomedical textiles, ecological textiles, and textile equipment, well-known experts from the world's textile and related fields gather in the cloud to contribute their intellectual strength to the prosperity and development of the global textile technology and education industry.

"Promising Future" of Textile Frontier Technology

The convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has provided key ideas for the development of the textile discipline and industry. As a leader in the world textile industry, China has always adhered to the principle of self-reliance and self-reliance through science and technology to demonstrate its responsibility. Textiles have the ideal characteristics to meet the growing needs of the people for a better life, spanning 12 scales ranging from nanometers to kilometers. Traditional textiles have undergone a "major transformation", riding the "technology carriage", and are rapidly penetrating the fields of biomedicine, brain computer interface, aerospace, energy management, intelligent wearable, and other fields. Academicians and experts from the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, the Japanese Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Sciences, and other institutions have put forward "sharp" views, colliding with innovative sparks, and providing suggestions for "promising" cutting-edge textile technology.

Yu Jianyong, chairman of the conference, academician of the CAE Member, and president of Donghua University, said that through cutting-edge research such as the refinement of electrospun nanofibers, the expansion of materials from organic to inorganic, the transformation of structure from bulky to dense, and the construction of dimensions from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, nanofibers can be widely used in heat insulation, intelligent textiles, filtration and separation and other fields closely related to people's lives.

"The textile industry has a complete chain and huge market opportunities!" said Cui Yi, an academician of the National Academy of Sciences and professor at Stanford University. Polyolefin fabric with infrared characteristics and porous structure is a new type of "light and warm" fabric, and its rich material technology is expected to promote the realization of the "carbon neutral" vision of the global economy.

How to implement cutting-edge textile technology? Xing Mengqiu, an academician of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a professor at the University of Manitoba, Canada, said at the forum: "We started from application oriented basic research to carry out mechanism research on self-healing hydrogel biomedical textiles, which reflects the clinical value of cutting-edge textile technology."

Tao Xiaoming, a member of the International Textile Society and dean of the Research Institute of Intelligent Wearable at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, expressed academic views on the development prospects of intelligent materials: "Flexible intelligent wearable systems combine cutting-edge technologies in multiple disciplines such as intelligent materials, microelectronics, fiber structures, and artificial intelligence, and are expected to help Parkinson's patients improve their walking quality through early detection and active intervention."

Advanced Textile Technology and Industry "Unlimited Vitality"

The general public still retains the inherent impression that textile is spinning and weaving, and the textile industry has long had high-tech clothing added to it. In the reports of various forums at this conference, a new vision of "catching the moon in the ninth heaven and catching turtles in the fifth ocean" was presented.

"With the development of information technology and digital technology, textile and clothing in the future will fully realize flexible printing. Perhaps in the future, there will be a clothing printer at the entrance of each community, and after swiping the card, you can wait for the clothing to be printed out," said Fu Guangwei, Vice President of the Conference, Chairman of the China Textile Engineering Society, and Chairman of the Asian Textile Society Alliance, "This scenario means that China's textile industry will face significant changes in cutting-edge science and technology."

"The research on cutting-edge and cutting-edge textiles will bring fundamental subversion to the advanced textile industry!" Li Lingshen, Vice President of the Conference, Vice President of the China Textile Industry Federation, and Secretary of the Party Committee of the China Textile Engineering Society, said that in the future, the development of the textile industry should focus on the high value, green, and extensive application of new fiber containing materials in the technology sector; Common basic research on advanced textiles and tackling technical difficulties in digitization and automation.

Academician of the Japanese Academy of Engineering Ni Qingqing, Executive Deputy Director of Zhejiang Modern Textile Innovation Center, pointed out in his report that "the application of modern textiles, represented by lightweight and high-strength carbon fiber composites, in the fields of transportation such as automobile high-speed rail and electromagnetic shielding demonstrates that under the environmental requirements of the era of 'carbon peak, carbon neutral', modern textile cutting-edge technology provides good opportunities for industrial development and innovation." Mei Shunqi, a professor at Wuhan Textile University, said that in the future, the textile industry will mainly achieve high-quality development through transformation and upgrading from traditional to cutting-edge technologies, and green manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing are both important means for the textile industry to achieve the "dual carbon strategy".

Regarding the "path of textile equipment innovation and development", Zhu Xianmin, senior consultant of China Textile Machinery Association, expert of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Standardization Expert Advisory Group, and former chairman of the Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Group of the National Manufacturing Power Construction Strategy Advisory Committee, believes that there are currently four main directions: industrial revolution, technological progress, product innovation, and material development.

"Global textile technology innovation is expected to be realized through two aspects," said Sun Ruizhe, honorary chairman of the conference, chairman of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation, and chairman of the China Textile Industry Federation, "The first is to focus on innovation in textile equipment, materials, processes, and products, and use cutting-edge technology to change the industrial form and nurture the future and future industries of the industry. The second is to focus on expanding the bioeconomy, big health fields, digital creative industries, and marine economy related to textiles, and use cutting-edge technology to extend industrial boundaries and promote integration, innovation, and innovation."

"The Belt and Road" circle of friends

Talk Together to Build a World Textile "Community"

During the same period, the annual meeting of the World Textile University Alliance was held. The Alliance is an unincorporated academic group founded by Donghua University in conjunction with universities with textile characteristics around the world in 2018, with a total of 35 member universities from 18 countries.

The theme of this annual meeting is "Sharing Digital Opportunities and Creating a Green Future Together". University representatives from China, Pakistan, Serbia, Iran and Malaysia, experts, scholars and industry representatives from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and agencies exchanged and shared ideas on how to respond to new opportunities and challenges brought about by changes in the world situation in the context of the normalization of the global epidemic, and in-depth exchanges on new strategies for textile science and technology development among the "the Belt and Road" countries: accelerating the green transformation of the development mode Promote the green and low-carbon sustainable development of the international textile industry, so as to further promote the exchange and cooperation of textile and clothing universities in countries along the "the Belt and Road", and provide technical and intellectual support for the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road".

"In recent years, Donghua University has been based on advantageous disciplines such as textiles, materials, and design, closely connecting with national strategic needs, tracking the forefront of international textile academic and industrial development, continuously expanding the field of discipline development, serving the national textile industry in scientific and technological breakthroughs and self-reliance. A large number of scientific research achievements have been widely applied in fields such as aerospace, construction engineering, and environmental protection." Yu Jianyong pointed out, "In the future, Donghua University will take this conference as an opportunity to continue to exert its disciplinary advantages in advanced textiles, gather elites and wisdom, make new contributions to the prosperity and development of global textile technology, education, and industry, strive to become a leader in international textile education and scientific and technological innovation, and refine the Chinese plan for the development of the world's textile discipline with the Chinese wisdom of textile people."