A research team led by Professor Easan Sivaniah at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, with researchers from China’s Donghua University and Tokyo Metropolitan University, has demonstrated a new way to create whiteness and water repellency without titanium dioxide and (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) PFAS-based treatments. Published in Nature on September *, ****, the work could be relevant to textile finishing because it shifts both functions from conventional additives towards engineered polymer structure.
For textile and apparel manufacturers, that is the more important message than the novelty of another white material. DFP, or Deep Foam Photolithography, points to a possible route for integrating optical and water-repellent properties into the material itself. But the technology remains at the research stage. It has yet to demonstrate the laundering, abrasion resistance, processing speed and economics needed for commercial textile production. The immediate industry opportunity is therefore evaluation, not replacement.
