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DyeCat technology
DyecatOffering an environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional dyeing methods.
Environmentally-friendly DyeCat technology means colours never fade.
Scientists at the University have invented a revolutionary way of permanently colouring the molecules of fabric fibres, meaning that the colours never run and clothes never fade. The University created a spin out company called DyeCat in 2006, to develop this technology, which offers a more environmentally-friendly alternative to the conventional methods currently used for dyeing clothes.Dr Patrick McGowan of the University's School of Chemistry and co-founder of DyeCat said:
"When clothes are exposed to sunlight and washed and dried repeatedly, the molecules which colour the cloth begin to detach from the surface of the material and the colours fade.
"In your washing machine, the molecules may reattach to the other items that they're being washed with - hence your white shirts turns grey and your black top slowly fades and loses colour.
"DyeCat technology turns the way that textiles are coloured on its head so this doesn't happen. Currently, when clothing is made, the fabrics are usually dyed using chemicals in water baths and it is during this process that coloured molecules attach themselves to the fabric, giving the colour we see. But this uses lots of energy and water and is costly and time-consuming.
"In the DyeCat process we do things differently, we colour the fibre itself - the bit that ends up making up the fabric - as the fibre is made, meaning that the colour is 'locked in' and will never wash out or fade like the traditionally dyed materials."
DyeCat's technology could be used in textiles, clothing and automotive plastics, as well as military and biomedical applications.
For more information visit the DyeCat website