Abstract: 3D-printing technology offers the chance to functionalize textiles in the third dimension. Possible applications can be printed buttons and locking systems, which are related to traditional fashion applications. Also, elements for mechanical protection can be printed on textile, e.g. for realization of protective sport clothing or for the defence sector. Finally, elements for decorative and design purposes can be realized by 3D-printing on textile, this is especially attractive due to the possible customer individualization. Crucial for such functional applications is the stability of the printed object onto the textile substrate, meaning it is absolutely necessary to guarantee a good rubbing and washing stability. The actual presentation describes a variation of parameters which are able to optimize the fixation of a 3D-printed object. These parameters are the chemical nature of the fiber, chemical pre-treatment of the substrate, the textile roughness and a plasma treatment. Different kind of textile materials as cotton, nylon and polyester are investigated. As chemical pre-treatments simple washing processes but also application of precursors can be used. Additionally, to the textile properties, also the parameters of printing process, as printing speed and temperature, are investigated. To evaluate the quality of 3D-prints onto textiles several testing procedures are developed specially to determine the adhesion force between the 3D-object and the textile substrate. Results of different washing- and abrasion procedures are presented. Altogether it can be concluded that the presented technique has a high potential to realize new, innovative and especially individualized textile products.

Keywords: Textile functionalization, 3D printing, Nylon, PLA, woven and knitted fabrics.

Acknowledgements: Many thanks are owed to four of our excellent bachelor and master students - Maryna Gorlachova, Dan Luo, Anja Huber and Julia Bergschneider, who are working on the field of 3D printing on textile substrates during the last years. For long-term cooperation, the author owes many thanks to Prof. Dr. Yordan Kyosev (TU-Dresden, Germany).

Biography: Prof. Boris Mahltig, studied chemistry at the University of Bremen (Germany) and finally received the PhD at the university TU Dresden (Germany) in the field of polymers and surfaces. After several years working as project leader in the field of coatings & functionalization, he joined the Hochschule Niederrhein in 2011 as a full professor with the denomination “Functionalization of Textiles”. With more than 100 publications and more than 10 patent applications, he contributes to several different fields of science, such as sol-gel technology, textile functionalization, UV protection, 3D printing, optical modification, functional pigments and high-performance fibers.