Supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) textile processing is a water-free technology with significant savings in energy, chemicals, and wastewater while producing high-quality products thereby creating new business opportunities. It is an attractive alternative to both water and organic solvent since it is inexpensive, essentially nontoxic, nonflammable, environmentally friendly and requires relatively low critical temperature 31⁰c and pressure 7.38 Mpa which can easily be recaptured and recycled after use.

Today supercritical CO₂ dyeing of PET has come up to the commercial level. The Netherlands-based company, DyeCoo Textile Systems, was the first to launch commercial SC-CO₂ dyeing system. Meanwhile, SC-CO₂ is a resource efficient, flexible, and ecological textile production which could be a suitable technology for textile functionalization. However, there are limited studies on the potential use of this technology for the production of smart and functional textiles. Furthermore, unlike dyes, fundamental understanding of the solubility and transport (kinetics) properties of functional compounds is lacking.

The aim of this research project is to develop sustainable functional and smart textile materials using SC-CO₂ technology. It will focus on combined dyeing and functionalization (antimicrobial, medical/care, and flame retardant) of woven and knitted synthetic textiles using SC-CO₂. Preliminary experiments have been conducted to develop antimicrobial polyester fabric in SC-CO₂ and a promising result is found. Furthermore, characterization of the functionalized fabric (surface property, wettability), the release kinetics of active principles from textiles (Franz cell device, HPLC) and the skin physiology after the contact with a functionalized fabric (cutometer) will be investigated.