To find information on how to register an Expression of Interest and to read about the Project Leader click on the headings below:

• How to register an Expression of Interest
• About the Project Leader - Dr Keith Millington

Overview

The natural cream colour of wool can affect the range of shades available for dyers, in particular bright whites and pastels are difficult to achieve. Bleaching wool improves its whiteness but reduces its photostability to sunlight, meaning that it will yellow at a faster rate. The application of optical brighteners to wool can achieve brilliant whiteness similar to cotton, however these chemicals further reduce wools photostability, particularly when wet. This can lead to very rapid yellowing even after a single laundering cycle and line drying in bright sunlight. For this reason textile manufacturers and retailers are reluctant to use optical brighteners on wool products.

In Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Sheep Industry Innovation, with CSIRO’s Materials Science and Engineering Division and Deakin University, have developed a method for reducing the photoyellowing of bleached wool products. The CRC’s process has been scientifically validated in a range of trials. It does not require a separate process but simply involves the addition of chemicals during the final wet process. This method is protected by a Provisional Patent application and is supported by a registered Trademark – “Everwhite Wool^®”.
 

The figure above (Figure 1), shows the change in yellowness of knitted wool fabric caused by exposure to simulated sunlight for one hour under wet conditions. Optically brightened and double bleached wool yellowed significantly, whereas natural wool and double bleached wool prepared using the CRC method have not yellowed and show slight photobleaching.

The second figure (Figure 2) shows how the yellowness of untreated wool, bleached wool and bleached wool with the CRC treatment changes with exposure time to simulated sunlight under dry conditions. Note the sudden increase in yellowness of the double bleached fabric compared to the same fabric with the CRC treatment. Also note the very small effect on fabric yellowness of the CRC treatment.

It is clear that the CRC treatment retards photoyellowing under both wet and dry conditions.
 

How to Register an Expression of Interest

The CRC is seeking Expressions of Interest from companies in the wool textile supply chain.

Register an Expression of Interest by emailing the Sheep CRC at spotts@une.edu.au by close of business, Friday 23 March 2012.

Expressions of Interest should include the company name, address and relevant contact details, as well as a brief description of the business, the product range to which the Everwhite Wool^® processing method would be applied and the countries of interest in terms of a license agreement.

The Sheep CRC will correspond with all parties that register an Expression of Interest, though successful applicants will be those that best demonstrate how they will use the technology to increase the demand of Australian wool in addition to providing an appropriate monetary return on the research investment of the Sheep CRC.
 

Download the invitation to submit an expression of interest below.

Invitation to Submit Expression of Interest - Everwhite Wool (234 KB)

Project Leader - Dr Keith Millington

Dr Millington is the Project Leader for the Sheep CRC's Whiter Lightfast Wool Project and is the Stream Leader heading Fundamental Fibre Science and Colouration at CSIRO Materials Science & Engineering Division, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He is currently working on new methods to study free radical oxidation in proteins and polymers, including chemiluminescence techniques.

Dr Millington's knowledge of the photochemistry and photostability of dyes has recently been applied to the use of commercial textile dyes in dye-sensitised solar photovoltaic cells.

To read more about Dr Millington visit the CSIRO website by clicking here.