Xeros launches research to upcycle plastic microfibers in collaboration with University of Surrey

UK – Xeros Technology, a clean technology company, has partnered with the University of Surrey to fund pioneering research to upcycle the microfibres captured from laundering clothes into a useful and valuable carbon material.

Xeros defines the microfibers used as tiny “threads,” smaller than 5mm, that break off from textiles through the everyday acts of wearing and laundering garments and textiles.

The research has developed a method designed to upcycle textile micro/nanofibers shed while washing and drying clothes.

This method, in turn, produces clean hydrogen and solid carbon nanomaterials that could be implemented for many different functionalities – such as an environmental packaging solution.

“I noticed there wasn’t a clear technological solution to make them harmless to the environment,” noted Melis S. Duyar, senior lecturer of chemical and process engineering at the University of Surrey, England and lead researcher.

“As a chemical and environmental engineer working to devise solutions to reach a circular economy, I was motivated to research whether we could use any of the tools at our disposal to utilize this emerging microfibre waste stream as a valuable feedstock in chemical reactions.”

Estimates suggest every year more than half-a-million tonnes of microfibres are released into the world’s oceans simply from garment washing.

Research shows that microfibres from synthetic textiles (known as microplastics) are one of the biggest sources of microplastic pollution in the world’s oceans – they have contaminated the entire planet.

To address this significant environmental problem, Xeros Technology developed a washing machine filtration device, XFilter, which captures the microfibres and prevents their release into the world’s oceans.

XFilter is said to be allowing users to place the captured microfibres directly into their bin to be disposed of with other household waste, as we already do with vacuum cleaners and tumble driers that collect similar mixed fibers.

Duyar added: “At the University of Surrey, we are developing solutions to upcycle microplastics without releasing the fossil carbon contained within them into the atmosphere in the form of greenhouse gas emissions.

“Plastics are one of the problems associated with our dependency on fossil fuels, so any solution we develop to address plastics pollution must also fit within our strategy for reaching a net zero emission economy.

“This partnership with Xeros will allow us to bring our technology closer to commercialization, by developing methods for upcycling real microfiber waste collected from commercially available filters.”

The carbon nanomaterials developed using this upcycling method can be used in various essential products including batteries, solar cells and medical devices.

“We are excited to see our patent pending processes in action as applied to mixed fiber feedstocks, which is a big step towards developing a viable, real-world solution,” concluded Duyar.

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