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The extremely flammable cellulose macromolecules in cotton fabrics seriously affect their application in the field of flame retardancy. In this paper, the surface of cotton fabric was modified with citric acid, and then metal-organic framework (UiO-66), cationic starch (St) and polyphosphonitrile (PZS) microspheres containing the transition metal element Zr were sequentially deposited to prepare an efficient and economical cotton fabric. St-PZS double-impregnated cotton fabrics have better thermal stability, flame retardancy and mechanical properties. And the coating does not affect the whiteness and stiffness of the cotton fabric. The results of thermogravimetric analysis showed that cotton/UiO-66/2St-PZS had a higher residual char rate (25.34%) under N2 atmosphere, which was 200.1% higher than that of control cotton (8.28%). In addition, cotton/UiO-66/2St-PZS had a 46.6% reduction in peak heat release, a 31.7% reduction in total heat release, and a 35.3% reduction in the peak of CO2 production compared to control cotton. It is worth noting that the average gross calorific value is 63.3% lower than that of the control cotton, indicating that flame retardant cotton fabrics can effectively inhibit the production of flammable gases. In addition, the tensile strength and elongation at break of cotton/UiO-66/2St-PZS are 458.79 N and 11.04%, respectively. After 20 laundering cycles, the mechanical properties remained almost unchanged, We acknowledge the funding support of The Key Laboratory of Flame Retardancy Finishing of Textile Materials, CNTAC (Q811580522), National Natural Science Foundation of China under (Grant No. 22075020) and (Grant No. 22375023), and the characterization results were supported by Beijing Zhongkebaice Technology Service Co., Ltd. (www.zkbaice.cn), Postprint (published version)

The use of lime-based composites reinforced with fabrics made of natural fibers, is a promising solution for the strengthening of historical masonry structures owing to its moderate mechanical strength, similar color and chemical compatibility, avoiding damage on the historical structure and contributing to crack-width control. In this study, a new lime-based composite reinforced with flax nonwoven fabrics is mechanically characterized to study its reinforcement potential in terms of strength, and stress distribution. To this end, laminate plates with lime/metakaolin matrix and four to six layers of fabric reinforcement were produced and totally carbonated in a CO2 chamber. Both the mechanical (flexural and tensile) and durability (against wet-dry cycles) properties of the composite were subsequently assessed. Furthermore, Digital Image Correlation (DIC) was carried out on tensile testing to study the stress distribution. The 6-layer composites displayed the best performance (with flexural and tensile strengths of approximately 5.3 MPa and 2.5 MPa, respectively), followed by the 5-layer and the 4-layer composites. The DIC analysis revealed a higher stress distribution in the 6-layer composites, with an increased number of cracks, although having a lower severity. As for durability, a decrease of 30–45% is observed in flexural strength, and of 6–18% in tensile strength, depending on the number of reinforcing layers. SEM analysis refers to fiber/matrix debonding as the cause of this decrease. No damage has been observed on the fiber surface, which retains its reinforcing capacity. All of the composites displayed strain-hardening behavior in both the unaged and aged conditions. Study outcomes are intended to serve as the basis for the creation of a future, compatible, reliable, and sustainable system given its potential application in the historical restoration of masonry structures, The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Spanish government’s Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) and Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) for the financial support provided within the scope of the RECYBUILDMAT project (PID2019–108067RB-I00MICIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033), and the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Agència de gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) for the financial support provided to the TECTEX Research Group (2021 SGR 01056). The author Heura Ventura is a Serra-Húnter fellow, Postprint (published version)

El nuevo material creado por el grupo de investigación TECTEX, del Campus de Terrassa, mejora las propiedades del fibrocemento, es muy resistente, más flexible que otros materiales de construcción, es ignífugo y contribuye a reducir el impacto medioambiental en la construcción y por la destrucción de los residuos textiles, Postprint (published version)

En este artículo se presenta el proyecto RECYWASTEX, propuesta que pretende avanzar en el conocimiento del reciclado mecánico de textiles que se acumulan en los vertederos. También se describe el equipamiento de que dispone el Grupo de Investigación en Tecnología Textil-TECTEX, del Instituto de Investigación Textil y Cooperación industrial (INTEXTER) del Campus de Terrassa de la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya relativo al reciclaje textil mecánico de fibra a fibra, Postprint (published version)

This project consists on the development of an automatic audiovisual advertisement generator, based on state-of-the-art deep learning models. The project was developed as a prototype during an internship period, with the intention of turning it into an API in the future. It combines a depth map and segmentation to achieve a parallax effect in generated images, and includes a text-to-speech model that achieves dynamic and realistic results. The project works as an effective tool for video generation, while text-to-video models improve until they reach commercial quality within a few years., Este proyecto consiste en el desarrollo de un generador automático audiovisual de anuncios, basado en modelos de aprendizaje profundo de última generación. El proyecto fue desarrollado como prototipo durante un período de prácticas, con la intención de convertirlo en una API en un futuro. Combina un mapa de profundidad y segmentación para conseguir un efecto parallax en imágenes generadas, e incluye un modelo de texto a voz que logra resultados dinámicos y realistas. El proyecto funciona como una herramienta efectiva para la generación de vídeos, mientras que los modelos de texto a vídeo mejoren hasta alcanzar una calidad comercial en unos pocos años., Aquest projecte consisteix en el desenvolupament d'un generador automàtic audiovisual d'anuncis, basat en models d'aprenentatge profund d'ultima generació. El projecte va ser desenvolupat com a prototip durant un període de pràctiques, amb la intenció de convertir-lo en una API en un futur. Combina un mapa de profunditat i segmentació per aconseguir un efecte parallax en imatges generades, i inclou un model de text a veu que aconsegueix resultats dinàmics i realistes. El projecte funciona com una eina efectiva per la generació de vídeos, mentres els models de text a vídeo milloren fins a assolir una qualitat comercial en uns pocs anys.

Smart textiles have gathered an increasing interest in the industry in recent years. Nevertheless, due to its uneven development and its novelty, the presence of this topic in the educational curricula is scarce and mainly devoted to master's degrees. HACKTEX project, an Erasmus+ project funded by the European Union, aims to develop open-access resources to complement the knowledge of European engineering students’ curricula in the field of smart textiles through different pedagogical tools. In that sense, in the framework of the project, a virtual training based on a MOOC (Massive Online Open Course) and a Virtual Guide on Entrepreneurship has been developed. In order to test the produced virtual materials, a pilot bootcamp training was carried out, hosted at the facilities of the University of Borås (Sweden). The bootcamp involved students from all the universities participating in the project: the hosting university (UB), TUIASI (Romania), UNIWA (Greece) and UPC (Spain). Previously to its start, the students accessed the online virtual training and studied the materials available. Then, during the bootcamp, the project partners designed as trainers tested the knowledge from the virtual training acquired by the students with different learning methodologies. The TECTEX Research group from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), was responsible for the first day of the bootcamp training, where a workshop about raw materials and products for functional and smart textiles (corresponding to the learning unit 2 of the MOOC: Raw materials and products for functional and smart textiles) was performed. This workshop started assessing the knowledge of the students about the raw materials presented on the MOOC with an interactive quiz. Then, the students were mixed and grouped to interact with four workstations, each one focussed on one of the raw materials discussed on the MOOC. Through this interaction, the students could experiment and check the material’s proper, HACKTEX project was co-funded by the European Union through the grant 2021-1-RO01-KA220HED000027527. The authors also acknowledge the funding of the research group TECTEX (2021 SGR01056) from the Department de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Postprint (published version)

Programa de doctorat: Doctorat en Enginyeria Tèxtil i Paperera

Programa de doctorat: Doctorat en Enginyeria Tèxtil i Paperera

Lately domestic self-supply is being pushed forward through various incentives programs coming from European, local, and national institutions, with the aim of reducing the electric invoice of households, diminishing greenhouse effect gases and the dependence on third-party countries in the matter of fossil fuels energy sources. Mostly, these self-supply systems rely on a single energy source (Normally a photovoltaic Installation), and this tend to be limited to single family houses. Collective self-supply is also contemplated in this type of incentives programs, but its development is being significantly slower, due to the fact that it needs, consensus between a large number of neighbours in a property, to be executed. The main goal of this TFG consists of the design of a Multienergetic Community within a Residential development, evaluating the various payment mechanism available. In order to do so, not only reducing the electric invoice and possibility of selling surplus will be analysed, but also the integration with other types of energetic consumption of the property (heating-cooling), measuring the saves made in the process.

El grupo de investigación de ingeniería textil (TECTEX) INTEXTER y del Departamento de Ciencia e Ingeniería de Materiales de la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya tiene como principal objetivo el desarrollo y optimización de nuevos materiales, procesos y tecnologías de la cadena de valor de la industria textil (desde la producción y caracterización de fibras y tejidos, procesos de tintura y acabado, hasta productos textiles). La finalidad de la actividad de nuestro grupo de investigación es reducir los impactos ambientales, aumentar la circularidad y optimizar los materiales, procesos y tecnologías textiles, así como desarrollar soluciones de alto valor añadido. Todo ello para contribuir a la creación de un sector textil más sostenible y competitivo. En particular, la investigación que llevamos a cabo en TECTEX se centra en contribuir a resolver los retos globales y las necesidades de competitividad industrial europea relacionadas con la transición ecológica y la transición digital, así como con el desarrollo de nuevas soluciones de alto valor añadido enfocadas principalmente al desarrollo de dispositivos y sistemas para aplicaciones biomédicas. En este artículo se presentarán los principales proyectos que actualmente estamos liderando desde nuestro grupo de investigación, como son los proyectos relacionados con la obtención de fibras naturales a partir de residuos agrícolas (HEMPQUAL), la obtención de colorantes naturales a partir de residuos agrícolas (OLIWASTEX), el reciclaje de residuos textiles por métodos mecánicos (RECYWASTEX), el desarrollo de materiales compuestos de cemento reforzados con fibras y estructuras textiles (RECYBUILDMAT), el electrohilado para aplicaciones biomédicas (ONCOFIBRAS y la aplicación del blockchain y trazabilidad a la industria textil (TRICK), Los proyectos presentados en este artículo han recibido financiación de las siguientes entidades: Gobierno de España, Agencia estatal de investigación: PID2019-108067RB-I00/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (proyecto RECYBUILDMAT) Gobierno de España y Unión Europea: TED2021-130611B-I00 (proyecto RECYWASTEX), financiado por MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 y por la Unión Europea “NextGenerationEU”/PRTR Generalitat de Catalunya: ACE034/21/000053 (proyecto ONCOFIBRAS); 2021PROD00074 (proyecto OLIWASTEX), 2021PROD00079 (proyecto HEMPQUAL) Unión Europea: H2020-958352-TRICK (proyecto TRICK), Postprint (published version)

Utilizing recycled fibers as reinforcement in cement-based matrices is an effective means of promoting waste recycling and adopting a circular economy approach in the construction industry. Within this framework, the recycling and potential reutilization of textile residues can improve the pre- and post-cracking performance of cement-based matrices intended for building components with up to intermediate structural responsibilities (i.e., panels and cladding elements for buildings). This research is focused on the mechanical and durability -through forced aging of dry-wet and freeze-thaw cycles- experimental characterization of laminated fabric-reinforced cementitious matrices (FRCMs) containing 4 and 6 nonwoven fabric layers obtained from end-of-life fire-protecting t-shirts. For this purpose, both direct and flexural tensile tests were conducted to characterize the mechanical performance of the composite. The tests on the 6-fabric layers produced panels with Portland Cement (PC) matrix, after 28-day of curing, led to average values of the maximum tensile strength of 3.7 MPa with associated toughness index superior to 25 kJ/m2, and mean modulus of rupture of 11.6 MPa with a fracture energy index of 4.3 kJ/m2. After dry-wet accelerated aging, the post-cracking performance of the developed composites decreased (on average, 40% in toughness and 11% in strength) due to fiber embrittlement. To better understand the performance of aged composites, shredded fibers recovered from protective clothing (mainly consisting of meta-aramid fibers) were immersed in the binary matrix. Accordingly, the mechanical properties of the fibers after 5 and 10 cycles of dry-wet aging were studied. Based on the results, replacing partially PC by silica fume (between 30% and 50%) was seen as a sustainable alternative to improve the performance of the aged fibers by more than 10%.

Since the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines PCV7 and PCV13 in children became widespread, invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has dramatically decreased. Nevertheless, there has been a rise in incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae non-vaccine serotypes (NVT) colonising the human nasopharynx. Nasopharyngeal colonisation, an essential step in the development of S. pneumoniae-induced IPD, is associated with biofilm formation. Although the capsule is the main pneumococcal virulence factor, the formation of pneumococcal biofilms might, in fact, be limited by the presence of capsular polysaccharide (CPS). Methodology/Principal Findings We used clinical isolates of 16 emerging, non-PCV13 serotypes as well as isogenic transformants of the same serotypes. The biofilm formation capacity of isogenic transformants expressing CPSs from NVT was evaluated in vitro to ascertain whether this trait can be used to predict the emergence of NVT. Fourteen out of 16 NVT analysed were not good biofilm formers, presumably because of the presence of CPS. In contrast, serotypes 11A and 35B formed ≥45% of the biofilm produced by the non-encapsulated M11 strain. Conclusions/Significance This study suggest that emerging, NVT serotypes 11A and 35B deserve a close surveillance. Since the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines PCV7 and PCV13 in children became widespread, invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) has dramatically decreased. Nevertheless, there has been a rise in incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae non-vaccine serotypes (NVT) colonising the human nasopharynx. Nasopharyngeal colonisation, an essential step in the development of S. pneumoniae-induced IPD, is associated with biofilm formation. Although the capsule is the main pneumococcal virulence factor, the formation of pneumococcal biofilms might, in fact, be limited by the presence of capsular polysaccharide (CPS). Methodology/Principal Findings We used clinical isolates of 16 emerging, non-PCV13 serotypes as well as isogenic tra, Depto. de Genética, Fisiología y Microbiología, Fac. de Ciencias Biológicas, TRUE, pub

Utilizing recycled fibers as reinforcement in cement-based matrices is an effective means of promoting waste recycling and adopting a circular economy approach in the construction industry. Within this framework, the recycling and potential reutilization of textile residues can improve the pre- and post-cracking performance of cement-based matrices intended for building components with up to intermediate structural responsibilities (i.e., panels and cladding elements for buildings). This research is focused on the mechanical and durability -through forced aging of dry-wet and freeze-thaw cycles- experimental characterization of laminated fabric-reinforced cementitious matrices (FRCMs) containing 4 and 6 nonwoven fabric layers obtained from end-of-life fire-protecting t-shirts. For this purpose, both direct and flexural tensile tests were conducted to characterize the mechanical performance of the composite. The tests on the 6-fabric layers produced panels with Portland Cement (PC) matrix, after 28-day of curing, led to average values of the maximum tensile strength of 3.7¿MPa with associated toughness index superior to 25¿kJ/m2, and mean modulus of rupture of 11.6¿MPa with a fracture energy index of 4.3¿kJ/m2. After dry-wet accelerated aging, the post-cracking performance of the developed composites decreased (on average, 40% in toughness and 11% in strength) due to fiber embrittlement. To better understand the performance of aged composites, shredded fibers recovered from protective clothing (mainly consisting of meta-aramid fibers) were immersed in the binary matrix. Accordingly, the mechanical properties of the fibers after 5 and 10 cycles of dry-wet aging were studied. Based on the results, replacing partially PC by silica fume (between 30% and 50%) was seen as a sustainable alternative to improve the performance of the aged fibers by more than 10%., The authors express their gratitude to the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness (Government of Spain) for the financial support received under the scope of the project RECYBUILDMAT (PID2019-108067RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). Also, they acknowledge the funding of the research group TECTEX (2021 SGR 01056) from the Department de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya. The first author acknowledges the Banco Santander for the Research Scholarships (Postdoc-UPC 2022 Grant)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

(English) In recent years, numerous studies have been carried out on functional textiles due to their ability to adapt and interact with the environment. In particular, special focus has been placed on dynamic textiles incorporating shape memory materials (SMMs). The most advanced studies in this field deal with the use of shape memory alloys (SMAs) or with the use of shape memory polymer finishes (SMPs), thoroughly analyzing the dynamism of shape memory and its benefits, mainly in terms of comfort and protection. However, despite the rapid development experienced by SMPs due to their versatility, low cost and easy transformation into different formats such as foams, gels or films, their integration in the form of monofilament/multifilament yarns in textiles has yet to be studied in depth. This integration presents significant manufacturing challenges on an industrial level, both in obtaining fibers of adequate fineness retaining their physical properties and shape memory effect (SME), as well as in their subsequent integration into textiles. Studies are currently underway to improve their processability and the properties of SMP yarns, based on shape memory polyurethanes (SMPUs), with the aim of achieving optimum performance and industrial production. However, research on the implementation of SMPU yarns in textiles and their potential applications is still rather limited and further investigation in this area is required. This study focuses on the development of dynamic textiles by integrating SMPU yarns in order to increase comfort in vehicle seats. The research was organized into three phases: the fabrication of the SMPU yarn, the incorporation of the yarns into openwork fabrics and the proposed application. The first research phase was based on the development and characterization of optimal SMPU yarns for use in textile applications. For this purpose, an industrializable SMPU yarn production system was studied, which included the permanent shape programming an, (Català) Els darrers anys s'han realitzat nombrosos estudis sobre els tèxtils funcionals per la seva capacitat per adaptar-se i interactuar amb l'entorn. En particular, s'ha prestat una atenció especial als tèxtils dinàmics que incorporen materials amb memòria de forma (SMM). Els estudis més avançats en aquest camp aborden l'ús d'aliatges amb memòria de forma (SMA) o l'ús d'acabats polimèrics amb memòria de forma (SMP), analitzant en profunditat el dinamisme de la memòria de forma i els beneficis, principalment en termes de confort i protecció. No obstant això, malgrat el ràpid desenvolupament experimentat pels SMPs a causa de la seva versatilitat, baix cost i fàcil transformació en diferents formats com escumes, gels o films, la seva integració en forma de fils monofilament/multifilament en tèxtils encara no ha estat estudiada en profunditat. Aquesta integració presenta importants reptes de fabricació a nivell industrial, tant en l'obtenció de fibres de finor adequada que conservin les seves propietats físiques i el seu efecte de memòria de forma (SME), com en la seva integració posterior en tèxtils. Actualment s'estan duent a terme estudis per millorar-ne la processabilitat i les propietats dels fils SMP, basats en poliuretans amb memòria de forma (SMPU), amb l'objectiu d'aconseguir un rendiment òptim i una producció industrial. No obstant això, la investigació sobre l'aplicació dels fils de SMPU en tèxtils i les seves possibles aplicacions continua sent força limitada, per la qual cosa cal continuar investigant en aquest àmbit. Aquest estudi se centra en el desenvolupament de tèxtils dinàmics mitjançant la integració de fils SMPU per tal d'augmentar el confort als seients dels vehicles. La investigació es va organitzar en tres fases: la fabricació del fil SMPU, la incorporació dels fils a teixits calats i l'aplicació proposada. La primera fase de la investigació es va basar en el desenvolupament i la caracterització de fils de SMPU òptims per al seu ús en aplicac, (Español) En los últimos años se han realizado numerosos estudios sobre los textiles funcionales por su capacidad para adaptarse e interactuar con el entorno. En particular, se ha prestado especial atención a los textiles dinámicos que incorporan materiales con memoria de forma (SMM). Los estudios más avanzados en este campo abordan el uso de aleaciones con memoria de forma (SMA) o el empleo de acabados poliméricos con memoria de forma (SMP), analizando en profundidad el dinamismo de la memoria de forma y sus beneficios, principalmente en términos de confort y protección. Sin embargo, a pesar del rápido desarrollo experimentado por los SMPs debido a su versatilidad, bajo coste y fácil transformación en diferentes formatos como espumas, geles o films, su integración en forma de hilos monofilamento/multifilamento en textiles aún no ha sido estudiada en profundidad. Esta integración presenta importantes retos de fabricación a nivel industrial, tanto en la obtención de fibras de finura adecuada que conserven sus propiedades físicas y su efecto de memoria de forma (SME), como en su posterior integración en textiles. Actualmente se están llevando a cabo estudios para mejorar su procesabilidad y las propiedades de los hilos SMP, basados en poliuretanos con memoria de forma (SMPU), con el objetivo de conseguir un rendimiento óptimo y una producción industrial. Sin embargo, la investigación sobre la aplicación de los hilos de SMPU en textiles y sus posibles aplicaciones sigue siendo bastante limitada, por lo que es necesario seguir investigando en este ámbito. Este estudio se centra en el desarrollo de textiles dinámicos mediante la integración de hilos SMPU con el fin de aumentar el confort en los asientos de los vehículos. La investigación se organizó en tres fases: la fabricación del hilo SMPU, la incorporación de los hilos en tejidos calados y la aplicación propuesta. La primera fase de la investigación se basó en el desarrollo y la caracterización de hilos de SMPU óptim, Postprint (published version)

The use of more environmentally friendly materials is gaining increased acceptance in strengthening historic masonry structures. Therefore, using vegetable nonwoven fabric as reinforcement in the lime composite may be a promising solution. This study presents a comparison extensive experimental program carried out on two flax nonwoven fabric reinforced lime composites ( CL-90 and putty CL-90) modified with two kinds of various metakaolin (MK). Laminate plates comprising six layers of fabric impregnated with a lime matrix were created and cured in a CO2 chamber for up to 7 days and both the mechanical (flexural and direct tension) Further and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to complement the analysis of mechanical characterization. The results confirmed that the 6 layers composites with Putty LC-90 lime had a better mechanical performance. The results and outcomes of this study may serve as the basis for future research on these composites and their potential use in structural applications in the building construction and restoration of historical masonry structures, Postprint (published version)

Tras la llegada del Comodoro Perry al archipiélago japonés en 1853 y la consecuente introducción forzada del país asiático al sistema internacional mediante la firma de tratados de carácter desigual con diferentes potencias occidentales. Japón intentará, bajo el recién implantado gobierno Meiji, asegurar la independencia y protección de la nación, además de abrirse paso y ganarse un lugar entre las potencias occidentales. Así, intentará expandir sus límites fronterizos e influencia en el continente, produciéndose como consecuencia a finales de siglo XIX y principios de S.XX; la guerra Sino-japonesa (1894-1895) y la posterior guerra Rusojaponesa (1904-1905). En este estudio, nos centraremos en esta última. Estudiaremos su pretexto histórico, su desarrollo y en especial cómo pudo influir la victoria japonesa en la percepción y opinión de potencias como Estados Unidos, Alemania y Gran Bretaña y si se produjeron cambios significativos en las relaciones diplomáticas entre estas y la nación asiática.

The present study was designed to investigate the bond mechanism between flax nonwoven fabric reinforced lime mortars and four different types of masonry stones. The researchers carried out a comprehensive characterization of the mortars and stones, and analyzed the interface between these materials based onbondextensionandflexuralstrength.Theresultsshowedthatbondstrengthvalues were directly related to adherence extension, which was dependent on surface treatment (such as water, lime, and latex). The flexural tests conducted on stones strengthened with the flax nonwoven fabric reinforced lime composite revealed that the latex treatment showed the best performance. This study provides preliminary evidence that the use of flax nonwoven fabric reinforced lime composite maybeaneffective method for masonry strengthening. However, further research is necessary to reach a comprehensive conclusion. Further studies may include an investigation of the effects of different types of latex, the influence of curing conditions on bond strength, and the long-term performance of the strengthening system. The results of this research may have important implications for the conservation and strengthening of historic masonry structures, as well as for the design of new masonry constructions., Postprint (published version)

In this paper, woven wearable metamaterials are developed. For this purpose, several frequency selective surface (FSS) textile absorbers are proposed. The main structure of the FSS consists of a fabric with different patch shapes, a back ground plate (conductive layer) and a textile substrate. Firstly, the effect of the substrate used on the S-parameters and absorbance in order to detect the best substrate is analyzed. Then, once selected the best substrate, the effect of the patches’ shape on the performance of the wearable metamaterial is analyzed. It was found that the fabric that gives the best results is the one composed of 65% polyester and 35% cotton and the best patches are the cross-shaped ones. The developed FSS can be used in wearable textiles to protect the human body from microwave radiation emissions., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

In order to make better use of clean energy such as solar energy, textile on earth have the potential to be made into solar textiles. The commercial solar cells can be embedded between the textile layers by laminating to harvest energy for e-textile applications. Research about solar textiles is not mature enough, and many aspects of the problem need to be solved. However, connecting techniques of conductive textile wires to flexible and solid solar cells are not in-deep studied. In addition, solar textile products with these connection technologies must meet washable requirements. To solve the problem of connecting textile wires to flexible and solid solar cells in the production of solar textiles, this study proposes three connection techniques for solar textiles, which are tape, adhesive and stitching based on literature and experimental validation. The feasibility of tape and adhesive methods was analyzed by literature review and the feasibility of stitching method was verified by experiments. The stitching is unapplicable method for solid solar cells that are difficult to penetrate, but applicable for flexible solar cells. The machine-washing durability of solar textile which composed of solar cells with stitch-connected conductive textile wires was verified by experiments. First, the textile wires were joined to flexible solar cells by stitching with the sewing machine and then embedded between fabric layers with TPU-lamination to simulate real set up in e-textile application. The humidity stickers were attached to the surface of solar cells, and it was expected to present solar textile samples with or without water inside. After the machine-washing process is completed, the individual parts of the solar textile sample are disassembled by delamination. For stitching method, after 15 machine wash tests by household washing machines, the performance of the solar cells was hardly affected, and the internal water resistance of the samples was good. The delaminatio

In today's data-driven business landscape, the volume of information available and generated is unprecedented. The growing availability of data has sparked increased interest in process mining - a powerful approach for leveraging this data to gain valuable insights and make informed decisions. Process mining can reveal patterns, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies, enabling continuous improvement in business operations while also having the capability to train models for simulation and prediction. However, a significant challenge lies in assessing and obtaining suitable data for process mining, known as event logs, in a more efficient way. Currently, this task is performed manually, involving the laborious process of merging datasets and identifying relevant attributes through individual validation checks. This thesis addresses this challenge by focusing on the development of an automation tool, using Python and the PM4PY library, that accelerates the analysis of the raw data and the approach to transform it into event logs, while ensuring the quality and suitability of this data for process mining. To evaluate the performance of the automated approach, state-of-the-art techniques and evaluation metrics are employed, assessing accuracy, scalability, efficiency, and usefulness. The tool is evaluated using four datasets provided by participants who requested a process mining data assessment. The implemented approach has successfully developed an automated data preparation tool for process mining analysis. Its utilization has resulted in notable cost savings and a significant time reduction of up to 5.5 times faster than the manual approach. Moreover, the automated tool has proven to be highly effective in minimizing effort and errors, ensuring greater data accuracy and reliability.

In recent years, great efforts have been made to research and develop advanced thermodynamic textiles that can change their thermal behavior in response to external stimuli. More specifically, shape memory alloys and shape memory polymer coatings have used for thermal comfort applications. However, the use of shape memory polymers in the form of filament yarns integrated in the fabrics has not yet reported. These fabrics have some advantages related to versatility in shape design. The aim of this study was to develop woven SMPU-based fabrics with reversible thermodynamic properties induced by weft SMPU filament yarns interlaced into polyester (PES) fabrics. To this end, PES woven fabrics with different ratios of weft SMPU filament yarns (PES/SMPU 1:0; 3:1; 1:1; 1: 3, and 0:1) were developed and their thermodynamic properties (thermal resistance, water vapor resistance, and permeability index), shape memory effect, and mechanical performance were evaluated and compared to the 100% PES reference fabric. All the SMPU-based fabrics developed were classified as extremely breathable (water vapor resistance <6 m2.Pa/W) and thermally comfortable (water vapor permeability index <0.3). The fabrics integrating the SMPU filament yarns reacted dynamically to the temperature stimuli over and below Tg, whereas the 100% PES fabric showed passive thermodynamic behavior. This dynamism led to an improvement in thermal protection against an increase in ambient temperature, reaching values of 13.18 mK.m2/W in thermal resistance (PES/SMPU 0:1), while also maintaining good moisture management properties, reaching values of 5.19 m2.Pa/W in water vapor resistance (PES/SMPU 0:1).

Towards more eco-friendly building materials, nonwoven fabrics from natural-based (flax) and recycled (textile waste) fibers were produced and incorporated into the cementitious composite panels. The textile waste fibers were recovered from two different clothing sources including fashion and fire-proofing garments. The flexural and durability (through forced wet-dry aging cycles) properties of the laminated sandwich-like cement panels reinforced with four different nonwoven fabrics (flax, treated flax, hybrid fashion textile waste/flax, and fire-proofing textile waste) were analyzed. Based on the results, all four different composites showed promising flexural-hardening behaviors in unaged conditions, especially those reinforced with the treated flax or hybrid fabrics which reached flexural strength of more than 16 MPa and energy ab-sorption index of more than 10 kJ/m2. After wet-dry aging, the post-cracking performance of all composites degraded due to fiber embrittlement, this was more evident for untreated flax composite (reduced by ~65%). Nonetheless, the treated flax fabric composite and hybrid fabric composite containing silica fume could show a better performance after aging., The authors express their gratitude to the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness (Government of Spain) for the financial support received under the scope of the projects RECYBUILDMAT (PID2019-108067RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); 3D-Crete (2019PROD00066/IU68-017262-Codi project: J-02696); and CREEF (PID2019-108978RB-C32/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). The first author acknowledges the Banco Santander for the Research Scholarships (Postdoc-UPC 2022 Grant)., Postprint (published version)

In the search of more environmentally-friendly construction materials, the use of natural-based fibers has gained much attention as reinforcement in the inorganic-based matrix. In this paper, the nonwoven flax fabric reinforced lime composites are created using a dewatering technique, and the serviceability parameters –thermal conductivity, sound absorption coefficient, and residual flexural resistance after exposure to elevated temperature– are determined experimentally. The tests are carried out on two different lime composites prepared under two distinct curing regimens, i.e., accelerated carbonation in a CO2 chamber and natural carbonation in laboratory conditions, to evaluate the effect of forced carbonation. In addition, the experimental results of the serviceability parameters are included in the MIVES model (Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessment) to evaluate the social sustainability of the developed material as an interior drywall panel. MIVES, a type of multi-criteria decision-making method, is based on the value function concept and seminars with experts. According to the results of experimental tests, the accelerated cured sample has higher thermal conductivity (~4 times) and lower sound absorption coefficients (~20%) than the naturally cured one. Nonetheless, the flexural performance of the former is 50% (at room temperature) and 100% (at elevated temperature) better. As for the social sustainability index assessed by the MIVES-based multi-objective approach, it ranges between 0.65 and 0.75 (out of 1.0) for both lime composite panels, at least 20% higher than the control lime panel with no reinforcement. The sustainability model designed for this research can be used for assessing the social sustainability performance of other materials although the weights assigned by the experts could be adapted to reflect the perceptions and local preferences., This work was supported through the project grants PID2019-108067RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and PID2020-117530RB-I00/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) of the Spanish Government. The author Payam Sadrolodabaee acknowledges the Banco Santander for the Research Scholarships (Postdoc-UPC 2022 Grant)., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Postprint (published version)

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) benefit from the immunomodulatory effect of azithromycin, but long-term administration may alter colonizing bacteria. Our goal was to identify changes in Haemophilus influenzae and Haemophilus parainfluenzae during azithromycin treatment. Fifteen patients were followed while receiving prolonged azithromycin treatment (Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Spain). Four patients (P02, P08, P11, and P13) were persistently colonized by H. influenzae for at least 3 months and two (P04 and P11) by H. parainfluenzae. Isolates from these patients (53 H. influenzae and 18 H. parainfluenzae) were included to identify, by whole-genome sequencing, antimicrobial resistance changes and genetic variation accumulated during persistent colonization. All persistent lineages isolated before treatment were azithromycin-susceptible but developed resistance within the first months, apart from those belonging to P02, who discontinued the treatment. H. influenzae isolates from P08-ST107 acquired mutations in 23S rRNA, and those from P11-ST2480 and P13-ST165 had changes in L4 and L22. In H. parainfluenzae, P04 persistent isolates acquired changes in rlmC, and P11 carried genes encoding MefE/MsrD efflux pumps in an integrative conjugative element, which was also identified in H. influenzae P11-ST147. Other genetic variation occurred in genes associated with cell wall and inorganic ion metabolism. Persistent H. influenzae strains all showed changes in licA and hgpB genes. Other genes (lex1, lic3A, hgpC, and fadL) had variation in multiple lineages. Furthermore, persistent strains showed loss, acquisition, or genetic changes in prophage-associated regions. Long-term azithromycin therapy results in macrolide resistance, as well as genetic changes that likely favor bacterial adaptation during persistent respiratory colonization. IMPORTANCE The immunomodulatory properties of azithromycin reduce the frequency of exacerbations and improve the

In recent years, great efforts have been made to research and develop advanced thermodynamic textiles that can change their thermal behavior in response to external stimuli. More specifically, shape memory alloys and shape memory polymer coatings have used for thermal comfort applications. However, the use of shape memory polymers in the form of filament yarns integrated in the fabrics has not yet reported. These fabrics have some advantages related to versatility in shape design. The aim of this study was to develop woven SMPU-based fabrics with reversible thermodynamic properties induced by weft SMPU filament yarns interlaced into polyester (PES) fabrics. To this end, PES woven fabrics with different ratios of weft SMPU filament yarns (PES/SMPU 1:0; 3:1; 1:1; 1: 3, and 0:1) were developed and their thermodynamic properties (thermal resistance, water vapor resistance, and permeability index), shape memory effect, and mechanical performance were evaluated and compared to the 100% PES reference fabric. All the SMPU-based fabrics developed were classified as extremely breathable (water vapor resistance <6 m2 Pa/W) and thermally comfortable (water vapor permeability index <0.3). The fabrics integrating the SMPU filament yarns reacted dynamically to the temperature stimuli over and below Tg, whereas the 100% PES fabric showed passive thermodynamic behavior. This dynamism led to an improvement in thermal protection against an increase in ambient temperature, reaching values of 13.18 mK m2 /W in thermal resistance (PES/SMPU 0:1), while also maintaining good moisture management properties, reaching values of 5.19 m2 Pa/W in water vapor resistance (PES/SMPU 0:1), The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was financially supported by the Catalan Government through the funding grant ACCIO-Eurecat (Project PRIV – Confortex), Postprint (published version)

Postprint (published version)

Fibre and textile-reinforced mortars are increasingly being used for a variety of building applications, including the strengthening of masonry structures. Lime mortars reinforced with sustainable fibres (such as vegetable or cellulosic fibres) may provide an interesting solution. In this paper, a mixture of commercial lime with 20% metakaolin addition was used to produce composites reinforced with non-woven flax fabrics that were cured at different moisture contents (from 0 to 100%) for 7 or 14 days in a CO2 incubator. The composites were char- acterised to determine their flexural behaviour, carbonation level and microstructure. According to the results, no differences exist in the flexural strength of the composites made in the moisture range of 33%–66%. At 7 days of curing, they attained Modulus of Rupture (MOR) values that exceeded 5.5. MPa. Moreover, it was observed that under high moisture conditions, the permeability of the fibres allows for CO2 access, despite the saturation of the pores of the matrix – allowing a reaction in the vicinity of the fibres –, while under dry conditions, the fibre’s moisture retention does not permit the carbonation of the matrix in their vicinity, even though complete carbonation takes place after 14 days, Postprint (published version)

This report details ways to improve the mechanical properties of cement mixtures reinforced by nonwoven recycled fabrics. With improved mechanical properties nonwoven recycled fabrics will become viable in more applications. A study of penetration has been conducted by testing 5 different cement mixes and their penetrability with a vacuum pump on non-woven fabrics. A short study has been concluded about the best way to wet and penetrate the fabrics. To evaluate the levels of penetration the samples are put under a SEM microscope. Another way of improvement discussed in this study is a study on the effect of long fibers with short fibers in the mechanical performance of non-woven fabrics. In order to study their effects flax fibers (long fibers) are mixed with recycled fibers (short fibers) with different percentages from (100%,40%,30%,20%,10%,0%). The webs of the fabrics were prepared with an air lay machine and consolidated with needle punching to form the nonwoven fabrics. The mechanical performance of the nonwoven fabrics is tested using a tensile strength machine. It was found that the difference in penetrability between the mixes with superplasticizer and a dry powder (Fly ash, Limestone powder, Ground granulated blast furnace slag) were negligible when looked at the expected deviation in results. It was also found that improving the mechanical properties of a short fiber non-woven fabric is possible by adding long fibers to the fabric., Este informe detalla las formas de mejorar las propiedades mecánicas de las mezclas de cemento reforzadas con telas recicladas no tejidas. Con la mejora de las propiedades mecánicas, las telas no tejidas recicladas serán viables en más aplicaciones. Se ha realizado un estudio de penetración probando 5 mezclas de cemento diferentes y su penetrabilidad con una bomba de vacío en telas no tejidas. Se ha concluido un breve estudio sobre la mejor forma de humedecer y penetrar los tejidos. Para evaluar los niveles de penetración, las muestras se colocan bajo un microscopio SEM. Otra forma de mejora discutida en este estudio es un estudio sobre el efecto de las fibras largas con fibras cortas en el rendimiento mecánico de las telas no tejidas. Para estudiar sus efectos, se mezclan fibras de lino (fibras largas) con fibras recicladas (fibras cortas) en diferentes porcentajes (100%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%, 0%). Las bandas de los tejidos se prepararon con una máquina de tendido por aire y se consolidaron con punzonado de aguja para formar los tejidos no tejidos. El rendimiento mecánico de las telas no tejidas se probó utilizando una máquina de resistencia a la tracción. Se comprobó que la diferencia de penetrabilidad entre las mezclas con superplastificante y un polvo seco (cenizas volantes, polvo de piedra caliza, escoria de alto horno granulada molida) era insignificante si se observaba la desviación esperada en los resultados. También se descubrió que es posible mejorar las propiedades mecánicas de una tela no tejida de fibra corta añadiendo fibras largas a la tela., Incoming

Nowadays the rationalization of electrical energy consumption is a serious concern worldwide. Energy consumption reduction and energy efficiency appear to be the two paths to addressing this target. To achieve this goal, many different techniques are promoted, among them, the integration of (artificial) intelligence in the energy workflow is gaining importance. All these approaches have a common need: data. Data that should be collected and provided in a reliable, accurate, secure, and efficient way. For this purpose, sensing technologies that enable ubiquitous data acquisition and the new communication infrastructure that ensure low latency and high density are the key. This article presents a sensing solution devoted to the precise gathering of energy parameters such as voltage, current, active power, and power factor for server farms and datacenters, computing infrastructures that are growing meaningfully to meet the demand for network applications. The designed system enables disaggregated acquisition of energy data from a large number of devices and characterization of their consumption behavior, both in real time. In this work, the creation of a complete multiport power meter system is detailed. The study reports all the steps needed to create the prototype, from the analysis of electronic components, the selection of sensors, the design of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB), the configuration and calibration of the hardware and embedded system, and the implementation of the software layer. The power meter application is geared toward data centers and server farms and has been tested by connecting it to a laboratory server rack, although its designs can be easily adapted to other scenarios where gathering the energy consumption information was needed. The novelty of the system is based on high scalability built upon two factors. Firstly, the one-on-one approach followed to acquire the data from each power source, even if they belong to the same physical equipment

Commercial solar cells can be embedded between textile layers by laminating to harvest energy in e-textile applications. However, techniques for connecting conductive textile wires to flexible and solid solar cells have not been studied in depth. Based on the literature and experimental validation, this study proposes a stitching connection technique for solar textiles. The feasibility of stitching was experimentally validated. First, the textile wires were joined to flexible solar cells by stitching with a sewing machine, and then embedded between fabric layers with TPU-lamination to simulate a real set-up in e-textile application. The machine washing durability of textile solar cell components with stitch-connected conductive textile wires was successfully verified, Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the support of Department de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya to the textile research group TECTEX (2021SGR01056), Postprint (published version)

Item does not contain fulltext, Haemophilus influenzae is an opportunistic pathogen adapted to the human respiratory tract. Non-typeable H. influenzae are highly heterogeneous, but few studies have analysed the genomic variability of capsulated strains. This study aims to examine the genetic diversity of 37 serotype f isolates from the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain, and to compare all capsulated genomes available on public databases. Serotype f isolates belonged to CC124 and shared few single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (n = 10,999), but a high core genome (> 80%). Three main clades were identified by the presence of 75, 60 and 41 exclusive genes for each clade, respectively. Multi-locus sequence type analysis of all capsulated genomes revealed a reduced number of clonal complexes associated with each serotype. Pangenome analysis showed a large pool of genes (n = 6360), many of which were accessory genome (n = 5323). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that serotypes a, b, and f had greater diversity. The total number of SNPs in serotype f was significantly lower than in serotypes a, b, and e (p < 0.0001), indicating low variability within the serotype f clonal complexes. Capsulated H. influenzae are genetically homogeneous, with few lineages in each serotype. Serotype f has high genetic stability regardless of time and country of isolation.

To reach carbon neutrality, the use of more eco-friendly building materials derived from recycled resources and industrial by-products has been widely encouraged. The use of Portland cement (PC) and concrete as the most used material in the world, after water, ends in the release of million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. On the other hand, fast fashion in the garment industry has resulted in a massive volume of textile waste (TW) that ends up in landfills worldwide. In this regard, a cementitious composite containing industrial by-products as a partial replacement of PC reinforced with recycled TW fibers could be a viable option in terms of both durability and sustainability. In this study, the durability of the hybrid TW/falx nonwoven fabric-reinforced cement composite modified with 30% Silica Fume (SF) was investigated by determining the effect of accelerated wet /dry cycles on the mechanical behavior (through the flexural test) and microstructural characteristics (through scanning and backscat-tered electron microscope). The results show that there was a negligible difference between the mechanical properties of the laminated composite treated with SF with respect to the one without SF in unaged conditions. Nonetheless, after accelerated aging, the fibers in the former could maintain their strength and flexibility, resulting in the composite with better post-cracking mechanical parameters by 40%. © 2022, fib. The International Federation for Structural Concrete. All rights reserved., Postprint (author's final draft)

Incorporating eco-friendly substances obtained from recycled resources and industrial by-products is gaining increased acceptance among building materials. In this context, a cementitious matrix containing supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) reinforced by recycled fibers may be a promising solution from both a durability and sustainability perspective. This study presents an extensive experimental program carried out on a cement- based composite with Silica Fume (SF), reinforced with recycled textile waste (TW) nonwoven fabric. Initially, the mechanical strength (compression and flexure) of the Portland cement paste substituted with variable SF content (0%–30%) was characterized. Based on the results, laminate plates having six TW fabric layers impregnated with three different cement pastes, Postprint (published version)

La industria que es dedica al cultiu del cànem obté un subproducte anomenat canemuixa que prové de la part interna de la tija i s’obté al separa les diferents fibres vegetals. En el sector agrícola la canemuixa suposa un problema a l’hora de desferconsiderada un residu sense valor que no poden reutilitzar. se’n, ja que és El principal objectiu d’aquest estudi és reutilitzar aquest residu del cànem, donant segona oportunitat fabricant parquets per al sector de l’edificació. li una El primer pas es realitzar un estudi del parquets actuals i les seves propietats i característiques, també de la canemuixa i d’algunes possibles resines naturals amb les quals es fabricaran les provetes i prototips. També de les diverses concentracions que s’utilitzaran i de la quantitat de mescla de resina necessària. Un cop es tingu in les provetes fabricades, el següent pas serà realitzar alguns assajos de flexió i tracció. Amb els resultats obtinguts podem fer comparacions entre els diversos tipus de provetes i les seves propietats i característiques. Per acabar, podem determinar qu ina es la millor mescla de canemuixa i resina. Per tant, podem afirmar que és vàlid fabricar parquets amb aquest subproducte. Tot i així, es necessitarà algun acabat amb vernís, com la majoria de parquets, per tenir les propietats òptimes.

Currently, many intelligent materials applied in textiles have been developed, such as photonic fibers, shape memory materials, conductive materials, phase change materials, chromic materials, mechanical responsive materials, intelligent coating/membranes, micro and nanomaterials and piezoelectric materials. With the rapid development of the electrical and, particularly, the electronics industry, flexible electrically conducting and semiconducting materials, such as conductive polymers, conductive fibers, threads, yarns, coatings and ink, are receiving widespread attention. They are playing a more and more important role in realizing lightweight, wireless and wearable interactive electronic textiles. The objective of this thesis was the study and manufacture of a humidity detector fabric which acts as an alarm when a liquid gets in touch with it. Therefore, e-textiles also known as intelligent textiles, are smart materials that have an electronic or conductive compound in them, such as conductive yarns, conductive coatings, sensors, etc. All the technologies to produce a sensor were studied in order to choose the best option to recreate a prototype of a humidity sensor.The woven option with conductive threads was chosen due to the lackof humidity detectors made by this method. With the help of a fabric design software called Penelope Cad Systems.The fabric has been able to produce a sort of a humidity detector prototype with a high sensitivity. Furthermore, a study of functionality of the fabric and durability of the conductive yarns has been made. The tests of durability are abrasion and pilling by the Martindale method. Also a washing test has been made to observe if conductives yarns keep their properties. These tests were chosen because this fabric was thought to be a kind of bedspread or bed sheet for a medical purpose. Finally, the results of the fabric developed have been presented in order to discern if it is functional and viable or not. These results can b

With the growth of the population and the improvement of people's quality of life, the consumption of textiles is increasing, but the number of textiles recycled and reused is relatively small. Especially in recent years, there have been more and more text iles containing conductive fibres, and their recycling methods are quite different from ordinary fibres. Therefore, reasonable recycling is required to avoid waste of resources. In this paper, a conductive nonwoven fabric is constructed by stainless steel fibres, and its feasibility is analyzed to further explore the feasibility of using recycled stainless steel fibres. The specific research contents are as follows: (1) Desk work Summarize the current types of conductive fibres, preparation methods, and app lications. The most suitable conductive fibres(stainless steel fibre) are selected by analyzing and comparing the electrical properties of these conductive fibres, the degree of impurities in their preparation, and the cost. The nonwoven fabric preparatio n method used in this experiment was analyzed, and the feasibility of using stainless steel fibres to construct conductive nonwoven fabrics was further determined by considering the matching degree of the process flow with the stainless steel fibres. Summa rize the methods for recycling and reusing conductive fibres, and summarize the types of products containing conductive fibres, especially stainless steel fibres, as potential waste sources. And put forward a plan for recycling and reusing these products w hen discarded. Summarize the current application of conductive cement and the types of conductive fibres suitable for it. Consider the possibility of conductive nonwovens as reinforcing materials to impart conductive properties to cement. (2) Experiment pa rt By comparing the conductive properties of nonwoven fabrics with different stainless steel fibre content and different fibre bonding methods, it can be seen that the higher the content of stainless ste

As the building sector is one of the leading responsible for energy consumption and CO2 emissions, criteria of sustainability, availability, and recyclability should be considered for developing materials even in the envelopes. Façade, as the first element against the undesirable external impact, may contribute to building sustainability by reducing the amount of energy consumption and providing indoor environment quality for the inhabitants. The envelope excluding its aesthetic function should fulfill certain requirements such as strength, flexibility, ductility, lightness, thermal and acoustical insulation, durability, and sustainability. Fiber/Textile cement sheets as an interesting architectural material attract great interest during the last decade, especially those reinforced with more sustainable fibers like vegetables or textile wastes. In this sense, this paper presents a novel model to evaluate the sustainability index of façade cladding panel, especially the fiber/textile cement board. To this end, a new model for assessing objectively the façade cladding sustainability was designed and developed based on MIVES according to the value function concept and seminars of experts., The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for the financial support in the scope of the project eFIB (reference: RTC-2016-5236-5) which was carried out along with SACYR Ingeniería e Infraestruturas. The first author also thanks the Department of Enterprise and Education of Catalan Government for providing support through the PhD Industrial Fellowship (2018 DI 77) in collaboration with Smart Engineering Ltd., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables::12.2 - Per a 2030, assolir la gestió sostenible i l’ús eficient dels recursos naturals, Postprint (published version)

In this work, several fabrics with different composition and structure have been used as the substrate for the production of wearable textile-embroidered dipole antennas. The performance of the antennas has been determined by measuring their resonance frequency, return loss and bandwidth. To determine their durability as wearable fabrics, the performance has been assessed before and after subjecting the antennas to washing and abrasion cycles. The results revealed that the woven fabrics presented a good washing fastness, even in fabrics having elastic fibers or low-crimp structures. In all cases, a good performance of the antennas was maintained after 30 washing cycles. For the abrasion cycles, the substrates with higher stability (measured as the crimp ratio) presented a higher wear fastness, whereas a higher variability was observed for the substrates with lower stability, Postprint (author's final draft)

An electrically conductive textile conducts an electrical current or supplies an electric field to a device. They are usually part of a smart textile system, a textile-based system that exhibits a reaction either to changes in its surroundings/environment or to an external signal/input. Smart textile systems are also known as smart or intelligent textile/garment. Wearing apparel manufacturing companies are proposing smart garments manufactured from smart textiles for outdoor wear, sportswear, lifestyle, and urban life but conductive textiles have not yet reached mass-market consumers as initially forecasted; the endconsumer is not confident to invest in a costly garment with yet unclear cleaning requirements and a potential loss of functional properties after domestic laundry. This thesis studies the influence of domestic washing and abrasion on conductive fabrics and the effects on their surface electric resistance. In addition, it will also be observed the surface change after the abrasion in order to link any physical surface modification with the experimental findings. The specimens to be analysed are conductive warp knitted structure and a non-woven conductive structure combined with a conventional knitted structure forming a 2D conductive composite by lamination; a conductive TPU film laminated with a conventional textile knitted structure and an electronic circuit printed conductive ink and transferred by heat press onto a conventional knit structure; all six 2D conductive specimens have the same conventional ground fabric: a warp knit structure of polyamide and elastane. The conductive 2D materials will be exposed to washing and abrasion tests and their linear surface resistance will be measured at the initial stage of the experiment and compared with their conductive properties during and after the completion of the experimental tests. The work aims to contribute to a better understanding of the effects of domestic laundry and abrasion on the surface resist

In this work, we present the development and characterisation of new cement-based composite panels reinforced with fibres recovered from wastes of protective technical clothing. The developed panels present a flexural strength (~15 MPa) and fracture toughness (~3.5 kJ/m2) that are suitable for their application on ventilated façades. The environmental impact of these panels was evaluated through the life-cycle assessment (LCA) from a cradle-to-gate approach and was compared with similar engineered materials and commercial materials used for ventilated façades (fibre cement facing tiles, ceramic tiles, and natural stone plates). Two functional units were assessed: the panel necessary to cover 1 m2 of façade, and the panel necessary to cover 1 m2 of façade providing a maximum bending stress of 17 or 24 MPa. For 17 MPa, the new composite developed has presented similar environmental performance to fibre cement facing tiles and significantly better than the traditional ceramic tiles and natural stone plates, This work was supported by the Spanish AEI (Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Government of Spain) [grant number PID2019-108067RB- I00]. The author Heura Ventura is a Serra-Húnter fellow. Monica Ardanuy aknowledges the Ministerio de Universidades (Ministry of Universities, Government of Spain) for the mobility grant PRX21/00264 (Subprograma de Movilidad, Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017–2020), Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Postprint (published version)

The aim of this work was to develop and characterize polyurethane-based shape memory polymer filament yarns of a suitable diameter and thermo-mechanical performance for use in tailored multi-sectorial applications. Different polymer compositions – pure shape memory polyurethane and shape memory polyurethane composites with 0.3 and 0.5 wt.% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes or carbon black as additives – were studied. Filaments were obtained using a melt spinning process that allowed the production of the permanent and temporary shape of the shape memory polyurethane filament. Two drawing speeds (20 and 32¿m/min) were studied. Characterization techniques such as the tensile test, differential scanning calorimetry, and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to investigate the shape-memory effect of the filaments. Pure and additive shape memory polyurethane filament yarns of a controlled diameter were produced. The results indicated that the pure shape memory polyurethane on the temporary shape had the highest tensile strength (234¿MPa). Filaments with carbon black revealed a significant strain (335%) in the permanent shape with respect to the other filaments. The melt spinning process influenced the soft segment glass transition temperature (Tgs) significantly, with a decrease in the temporary shape (first heating) as compared to the permanent shape (second and third heating). However, only the 0.5% multi-walled carbon nanotubes additive clearly influenced the filament, increasing the Tgs by 10°C. The additives also influenced the shape-memory effect, obtaining an increased fixity ratio (up to 97%) with the multi-walled carbon nanotubes additive and an increased recovery ratio (up to 86%) with the carbon black additive, Postprint (author's final draft)

Within the building construction sector, fiber cement boards have attracted interest as facade cladding materials in the last ten years, especially those that incorporate –for reinforcing purposes– natural and/or recycled synthetic fibers (i.e, from the textile industry). So far, the design-governing parameters of facade cladding panels have been mechanical strength, durability, constructability, aesthetics, insulation capacity, and fire resistance. From the sustainability perspective, the impact of the facade on the economic and energy efficiency performance is most often the parameter that leads the decision-making process. Within this context, the quantification of the sustainability performance of the facade –accounting for economic, environmental, and social indicators– is unfrequently carried out in design and project phases, this being attributed to the lack of methodologies that allow considering and quantifying some relevant indicators representative of the facade sustainability performance. As consequence, decisions made based on solely economic and on some of the environmental indicators might lead to solutions with lower sustainability performance than that required (or expected). Recycled textile waste fabric-reinforced cement board as a facade-cladding material for building envelopes is the focus of this research. In order to characterize the fire resistance, and thermal and acoustic insulation –as relevant serviceability parameters– of this material, an experimental program was carried out. Likewise, the sustainability performance of this facade-cladding is assessed through a method based on the Integrated Value Model for Sustainability Assessment (MIVES). This multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model relies on the value function concept and the multi-disciplinary participation of experts to identify and quantify the relevant indicators of the facade sustainability performance and the relative importance of indicators and requirements. The MIVES-ba, The authors express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness for the financial support received under the scope of the projects CREEF (PID2019-108978RB-C32) and RECYBUILDMAT (PID2019-108067RB-I00)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

One of the most common load modes is flexure. The paper measures and models the flexural strength and modulus of a bio-polyethylene reinforced with thermos-mechanical fibers from corn stover. Moreover, the authors use modified rules of mixtures to evaluate the contribution of the reinforcements to the properties of the composite. It was found a high impact of coupling agent content on the strength of the composites, and materials with a 6% of such agent and 50% of reinforcement increased 181% the strength of the matrix, and 464% its modulus. The obtained values are noticeable higher than polypropylene and some of its composites. Micromechanics analysis shows that the effect of natural fiber reinforcement on the flexural properties of a bio-based PE is similar to the effects on a polyolefin. Thus, the use of fully bio-based composites can be proposed as a substitute for some oil-based polymers, partially bio-based materials, and their composites, Postprint (author's final draft)

Outgoing

In this work, the hydrophobization of lignocellulosic jute fibers was achieved via the laccase/TEMPO-mediated grafting of octadecylamine (OA) on their surface, with the aim to improve the interfacial compatibility with nonpolar polylactic acid (PLA) resins in fiber-reinforced composites. The modified jute fibers were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). The characteristic vibrations of methylene groups and the increase in the surface C/O ratio of the jute fibers after the enzymatic treatment indicated that OA molecules were successfully grafted onto the jute fiber surface mediated by the laccase/TEMPO system. It was shown that the grafted jute fibers had increased surface hydrophobicity and reduced polarity with water contact angle of 124.2 °, diiodomethane contact angle of 94.1 ° and surface free energy of 11.44 mJ/m2, which were attributed to the presence of the OA nonpolar alkyl chains on their surface. The tensile, bending, and dynamic mechanical properties of the hydrophobized jute/PLA composites were enhanced, which suggested stronger interfacial adhesion between the jute fibers and the PLA matrix. The mechanical stability was investigated by water immersion measurements and it was found that the modified jute/PLA composites were better in this regards than the control jute/PLA composites. Therefore, this enzymatic hydrophobic modification could be used as an effective and eco-friendly method to produce natural lignocellulosic fiber-reinforced composites with excellent performance, Postprint (published version)