North-West Nanocenter NZ Nanocenter NWCTT

History

2023: Agreement with I. Kant BFU to create materials in the field of functional textiles

The Northwest Nanocenter of the Foundation for Infrastructure and Educational Programs signed a technology cooperation agreement with the Baltic Federal University named after I. Kant. This was announced by the North-West Nanocenter (SZCTT) on June 22, 2023.

The agreement provides for the unification of the competencies of scientific and technical teams and experts of the venture building business in order to develop and commercialize technologies for creating functional textiles. Technological cooperation involves joint work on the development of experimental materials, verification of market hypotheses for the industrial application of innovative developments and the launch of finished products on the market.

The goal of our interaction is to increase the efficiency of cooperation between science and business. Within the framework of cooperation, conditions are created for the exchange of ideas, knowledge, organization of joint research and development using the laboratory infrastructure of the university. Cooperation will allow the already existing developments of our scientists, for example, ultra-thin surgical or anti-static threads, and future projects to meet the needs of the industry and reduce the time for commercialization of the product, "said Alexander Fedorov, rector of BFU named after I. Kanta.

Work on the creation of innovative materials in the field of smart and adaptive textiles will be carried out with the involvement of resources from the university laboratory SmartTextiles, open in accordance with the needs and needs of participants in the textile and light industry market. The team of startups of the North-West Nanocenter (SZCTT) with a specialization in the field of functional textiles will be engaged in the selection of optimal production technologies and commercialization of the results of joint activities. In the future, the most successful projects may enter the investment portfolio of the nanocenter.

Textile materials with special properties are one of the directions of the investment program of the nanocenter. We already have promising developments in the field of antistatic and shielding materials, electrically conductive fabrics and products with protection against falsification. Cooperation with the university allows us to expand our R&D circuit in the field of creating adaptive textiles and enter completely new niches, - said Polina Zhuravleva, executive director of SZCTT.

The development of technologies and the emergence of new materials makes it possible to create more and more new product solutions, expanding the scope of use of "smart" textiles: heat-resistant, anti-vandal materials for individual items of transport furniture, fire-retardant fabrics for equipping emergency rescue teams, plenum coatings for railway apron, antibacterial canvases for medical use. According to Global Market Insights, the global smart and interactive textile market stood at $2.145 billion in 2021, reaching $16.4 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 25.6%.

Cooperation between SZCTT and the scientific and educational center opens up additional opportunities for the development of innovative infrastructure in the Kaliningrad region and the creation of new high-tech businesses in the region.