February 9, 2025 – Revolutionizing Textiles: The Rise of Olfactory Elements
In today’s market, textiles are primarily experienced through sight and touch, with their lack of distinct scent often leading to a one-dimensional product impression. However, the integration of olfactory elements into textiles promises to add a new dimension of charm. Imagine garments, home textiles, and automotive interiors infused with delightful fragrances during the production process, not only enhancing the uniqueness of the products but also stimulating consumer interest.
Historically, traditional techniques for creating aromatic textiles have included immersion, fumigation, and spraying. These methods often involved using the juices of aromatic plants or water infused with these plants to add fragrance directly to the fabric or utilizing the adsorptive properties of activated carbon to attach essences to the fabric’s surface. Unfortunately, due to the volatile nature of essence molecules, which are typically composed of low-boiling-point substances sensitive to light and oxygen, these traditional methods have struggled to produce long-lasting aromatic textiles. The lack of a strong bond between the essence and the fabric means that the fragrance disappears after washing, rendering the product non-reusable. Moreover, the small and unevenly distributed essence molecules can result in localized over-concentration of scent, causing discomfort.
According to Color Masterbatch Industry Network insights, advancements in technology have given rise to the aromatic fiber preparation method. This approach involves adding aromatic masterbatches to fibers during the spinning process, utilizing co-blending or core-sheath spinning techniques to produce aromatic fibers. These fibers are then twisted and woven into aromatic fabrics. The fragrance in these fabrics is securely bound to the fibers, making them wash-resistant and capable of slowly and continuously releasing the scent. However, the aromatic fiber method requires high decomposition temperatures for the fragrances, which ordinary essences cannot meet. Additionally, the processing is susceptible to pH changes that can cause the fragrance to dissipate, and the production costs are high, making industrial mass production challenging.
To address these challenges, the microcapsule aromatic finishing method has gradually gained attention. This technique employs one or more mixed materials as wall materials to encapsulate volatile essence molecules, forming micrometer-sized particles. These particles offer long-term storage advantages, effectively isolating them from external interference and enhancing the stability of the essence molecules.