Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Ever Dye (Plug-and-play sustainable dyeing solution to help the textile industry reduce energy costs and environmental impact)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31
The textile industry contributes 8–10% of global CO2 emissions and generates 92 million tons of waste annually. As the EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, the industry faces growing regulatory, consumer, and investor pressure to adopt sustainable practices. Current dyeing processes are highly inefficient, consuming excessive water, energy, and time, which drive up costs and emissions. The key objectives are to reduce energy and water consumption to drastically cut costs and GHG emissions, promote sustainable practices to align with ESG standards, and develop scalable solutions for widespread adoption across the industry. This project aims to revolutionize textile dyeing by introducing energy-efficient, sustainable technologies that can be used at room temperature, lowering emissions and improving product quality.
Work Package 3: Dyestuff Product Improvement
This project enhances dyes and pigments for better performance, stability, and environmental compatibility.
Red Pigment
Ever Dye is developing a vibrant red pigment. Initial small-scale tests led to scaling up to 500 mL, improving color consistency, crystallization, and performance. Current efforts focus on optimization and regulatory compliance.
Black Pigment
This project creates a black pigment. The best pigment showed wash fastness of 4 but had challenges with rubbing fastness and tannic acid oxidation.
Blue Pigment
Efforts to stabilize Ever Dye’s blue pigment focused on wash fastness under alkaline conditions. Progress includes risk assessment and scale-up studies for Persian blue.
Red & Blue Dyes
Initial research on bio-based organic dyes showed poor stability and wash fastness. A shift to plant-based natural dyes offered ecological benefits, focusing on navy blue (logwood) and turkey red. Non-covalent bonding between dyes and cationized cellulose improved jet dyeing penetration. However, wash fastness challenges, especially logwood oxidation, persist. Current research explores antioxidants and encapsulation techniques for improved fixation and durability.
Nanocellulose Project
Replacements of different reagents enhanced sustainability and reduced costs. This enabled eco-friendly oxidation and improved dyeability, exhaustion, and fastness in orange and yellow pigments. Certain reactions are being studied for further optimization.
Work Package 4: Dyestuff Synthesis Industrialization
This phase focuses on scaling dyestuff production to 1,200L. Analytical studies optimize synthesis and dye properties for pilot customer testing in WP5.
Cationized Cellulose
Scaled to 250L at VTT with improved recipes, including a switch to new reagents, simplifying filtration. Plans include scaling this new recipe next year.
Orange Pigment
Scaled to 130L with reproducible results; pH adjustments influence shade. Next steps include atmospheric pressure production and better handling protocols.
Yellow Pigment
130L batches showed consistent shades with NaOH adjustments. Yellow was easier to separate compared to other colors.
Brown Pigment
Efficiency was improved.
Work Package 5: Paid Pilot Trials and Process Optimization
Industrial trials at client sites identified challenges not apparent in lab conditions. These trials adapted dyeing processes for different fabrics and techniques, uncovering issues like viscosity increases at high concentrations. This work has deepened our understanding of industrial textile applications, advancing the technology’s readiness for broader use.
This project enhances dyes and pigments for better performance, stability, and environmental compatibility.
Red Pigment
Ever Dye is developing a vibrant red pigment. Initial small-scale tests led to scaling up to 500 mL, improving color consistency, crystallization, and performance. Current efforts focus on optimization and regulatory compliance.
Black Pigment
This project creates a black pigment. The best pigment showed wash fastness of 4 but had challenges with rubbing fastness and tannic acid oxidation.
Blue Pigment
Efforts to stabilize Ever Dye’s blue pigment focused on wash fastness under alkaline conditions. Progress includes risk assessment and scale-up studies for Persian blue.
Red & Blue Dyes
Initial research on bio-based organic dyes showed poor stability and wash fastness. A shift to plant-based natural dyes offered ecological benefits, focusing on navy blue (logwood) and turkey red. Non-covalent bonding between dyes and cationized cellulose improved jet dyeing penetration. However, wash fastness challenges, especially logwood oxidation, persist. Current research explores antioxidants and encapsulation techniques for improved fixation and durability.
Nanocellulose Project
Replacements of different reagents enhanced sustainability and reduced costs. This enabled eco-friendly oxidation and improved dyeability, exhaustion, and fastness in orange and yellow pigments. Certain reactions are being studied for further optimization.
Work Package 4: Dyestuff Synthesis Industrialization
This phase focuses on scaling dyestuff production to 1,200L. Analytical studies optimize synthesis and dye properties for pilot customer testing in WP5.
Cationized Cellulose
Scaled to 250L at VTT with improved recipes, including a switch to new reagents, simplifying filtration. Plans include scaling this new recipe next year.
Orange Pigment
Scaled to 130L with reproducible results; pH adjustments influence shade. Next steps include atmospheric pressure production and better handling protocols.
Yellow Pigment
130L batches showed consistent shades with NaOH adjustments. Yellow was easier to separate compared to other colors.
Brown Pigment
Efficiency was improved.
Work Package 5: Paid Pilot Trials and Process Optimization
Industrial trials at client sites identified challenges not apparent in lab conditions. These trials adapted dyeing processes for different fabrics and techniques, uncovering issues like viscosity increases at high concentrations. This work has deepened our understanding of industrial textile applications, advancing the technology’s readiness for broader use.
We have added three colors to our pigment palette;
Blue Pigment: Validated for delicate washing cycles, this color is suitable for commercialization in denim dyeing.
Black Pigment: Ready to begin testing at a commercial scale with the addition of a rubbing fastness improver.
Red Pigment: Exhibits good wash fastness and is prepared for initial commercial testing. The additional colors will provide a broader range of options that can be achieved using our technology, either through monochromy or trichromy. To ensure further uptake and success, additional research and industrial testing are required to validate the performance of these colors in dyehouses.
Laboratory and pilot tests of our dye product version have revealed limitations in their quality criteria. These findings will guide formulation improvements to achieve better dyeing and enhanced color fastness. To ensure wider adoption and success, further research and large-scale industrial testing are essential to validate the overall performance of these dyes.
Biopolymer team’s work enables the substitution of one reagent we use to activate biopolymer substrate with another reagent with better performance, leading to reduced raw material costs and easier processing, particularly in the separation phase. This result boosts the production efficiency and performance of our industrial production process.
The industrialization of dyestuff synthesis results in the validation of the full production process, including three pigment colors (brown, orange, and yellow) at a 250L scale. This facilitates better selection of production partners (CDMOs and CMOs) and allows us to communicate our production needs more precisely.
The kilograms of pigment produced during this work support pilot testing at dyehouses and commercial production (capsule collection for Adore Me). To further advance the industrialization of our product synthesis, we need additional partners with larger production capacities. We are currently targeting 1,200L, followed by 10,000L production volumes per batch.
Paid pilot trials The experiences we underwent during the last period helped us gain a better understanding of our technology in different dyeing techniques, especially pad, garment, and jigger. We were also able to obtain comparative results on the impact of our process versus conventional methods, based on real cases. This helped us improve our process and refine technology gain simulations (water, time, energy, and reduced chemicals).
Blue Pigment: Validated for delicate washing cycles, this color is suitable for commercialization in denim dyeing.
Black Pigment: Ready to begin testing at a commercial scale with the addition of a rubbing fastness improver.
Red Pigment: Exhibits good wash fastness and is prepared for initial commercial testing. The additional colors will provide a broader range of options that can be achieved using our technology, either through monochromy or trichromy. To ensure further uptake and success, additional research and industrial testing are required to validate the performance of these colors in dyehouses.
Laboratory and pilot tests of our dye product version have revealed limitations in their quality criteria. These findings will guide formulation improvements to achieve better dyeing and enhanced color fastness. To ensure wider adoption and success, further research and large-scale industrial testing are essential to validate the overall performance of these dyes.
Biopolymer team’s work enables the substitution of one reagent we use to activate biopolymer substrate with another reagent with better performance, leading to reduced raw material costs and easier processing, particularly in the separation phase. This result boosts the production efficiency and performance of our industrial production process.
The industrialization of dyestuff synthesis results in the validation of the full production process, including three pigment colors (brown, orange, and yellow) at a 250L scale. This facilitates better selection of production partners (CDMOs and CMOs) and allows us to communicate our production needs more precisely.
The kilograms of pigment produced during this work support pilot testing at dyehouses and commercial production (capsule collection for Adore Me). To further advance the industrialization of our product synthesis, we need additional partners with larger production capacities. We are currently targeting 1,200L, followed by 10,000L production volumes per batch.
Paid pilot trials The experiences we underwent during the last period helped us gain a better understanding of our technology in different dyeing techniques, especially pad, garment, and jigger. We were also able to obtain comparative results on the impact of our process versus conventional methods, based on real cases. This helped us improve our process and refine technology gain simulations (water, time, energy, and reduced chemicals).