TORNADO Project has been supported by the European Commission within the scope of the Horizon Europe Program carried out to execute the technology vision of Europe. Project consortium consisting of 14 organizations from 4 different countries has been formed to achieve project goals.
Within the scope of TORNADO Project, high performance (with excellent water and oil repellency), new, bio-based and non-toxic coating chemicals will be developed in accordance with safe and sustainable design (SSbD) criteria. New coatings that are proposed to be developed will not contain fluorinated substances. Their negative effects on human health and environment will be much less than their fluorine-containing counterparts. Beside these recycling opportunities of them will be easier.
Fabrics with water and oil repellent properties are frequently used in the production of technical textiles. In this type of textiles, chemicals containing fluorine are used in order to obtain high repellency performance. High performance fluorine-containing compounds it accumulates in humans, animals, soil, air and water over time. Therefore, the long-term negative effects of these chemicals on humans and the environment are quite dramatic. TORNADO Project aims to contribute to the transition to a safe circular economy by determining how high-performance technical textiles should be designed, produced and used more environmentally and sustainable.
In TORNADO project, two new bio-based water and oil repellent chemicals based from vegetable oils will be developed. Usability and performance evaluation of these new chemicals will be made in the packaging, kitchenware and textile sector. Sun Tekstil will develop processes and end products for textile production and verify them on an industrial scale. These safe and sustainable chemicals and fabrics treated with these chemicals are expected to perform same as their fluorine-containing counterparts. Thus, it is aimed to create a great environmental impact, especially in the field of technical textiles. Products to be developed with these chemicals and processes can be used in technical textile products, active and sportswear collections or outdoor products where water repellency is required. It is aimed to make significant contributions to scientific development with numerical simulations and mathematical models to be created within the scope of the project.
A life cycle analysis (LCA) will be made for all works carried out for TORNADO project, and sustainability aspect of the project will also be documented. Thus, Sun Tekstil will take a big step in development of processes, methods and end products that comply with major regulations declared by the European Union within the scope of sustainability goals.
