TTRI gives showcase at TIFE textile forum

Most of the exhibits at the Taipei World Trade Center, Exhibition Hall One, were functional textiles, part of TTRI's effort to develop value-added products in the midst of heavy competition in the market. Some of the technologies have been transferred to private manufacturers to help them make apparels of high quality and value.

The heat-conducting diving suit caught the attention of diving enthusiasts. The suit was enabled with the TTRI-developed, heat-conducting electro-thermal fiber. A power device was placed on the center of the suit to provide heat, which traveled throughout the suit to keep the wearer warm. According to TTRI, this arrangement was able to keep the temperature inside the suit at a maximum of 37 degrees Celsius for up to three hours.

“We know in wintertime, it's cold in a submarine environment, and the situation gets worse when it's windy,” said Huang Po-hsiung, a deputy director with TTRI. “This suit allows the diver to keep warm, and it's safe. There will be no power leakage.”

TTRI has transferred the technology to Taiwan-based diving gear brand Aropec.

As green energy is the way of the future, TTRI displayed a variety of environmentally-friendly products. One of these was the photovoltaic tent, which had a solar panel attached to it. The solar panel was made of a soft material that could be attached to fabrics. The solar panel was responsible for powering things inside the tent, such as lights, GPS devices and cell phones. TTRI also applied the technology to backpacks, allowing users to charge cell phones or other devices inside the pack whenever it is exposed to the sun.

For those interested in textiles that shine, TTRI has the solution. Its LED yarn had light-emitting diodes embedded into it. Rugs, dolls, clothes and other textile products using the yarn can emit light in the dark. According to TTRI, the technology has the potential to be used for many business opportunities, considering Taiwan's LED industry has a value of NT$60.9 billion, the second largest in the world after Japan. Many consider LED to be Taiwan's next trillion-dollar industry, after semiconductor and TFT-LCD.

The exhibition was part of TIFE 2009, which took place in Taipei from Oct. 14 to 16. The event had two components — an exhibition, and a forum inviting experts from all over the world to share their views on the textile industry.

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