Leveraging microbes for bioremediation
CiCLO® technology allows microbes to treat synthetic fibers like natural fibers. When CiCLO®-treated synthetic textiles unavoidably shed microfibers and the fibers ultimately end up in landfills, soil, sea water, and/or waste treatment plants, microbes are attracted to the material and can build functional entities to digest the molecules similarly to how they do with naturally biodegradable materials.
While the rate of biodegradation of any type of material that is inherently biodegradable is highly dependent on actual environmental conditions, long term studies have proven that, with CiCLO® fibers decompose at rates comparable to wool.
Hear how CiCLO® technology works from Dr. Sudeep Rao, Lead Inventor and Chief Scientist at Intrinsic Advanced Materials.
Built-in pollution-mitigation insurance
CiCLO® technology is added to polyester and nylon during the melt extrusion process, creating countless biodegradable spots (also known as “nucleation spots”) that are permanently embedded throughout the matrix of the plastic. It will never wash off, and it will not be activated until it is needed – when the fibers end up as pollutants in the environment. Textiles made with CiCLO® fibers look and feel like regular synthetics and can be engineered with high performance characteristics and finishes. Fibers, yarns and finished fabrics have been fatigue tested to ensure traits such as tenacity, pilling resistance and wicking are unchanged.