Les activités R&D de Centexbel-VKC soutiennent les entreprises textiles, plasturgiques et connexes, dans le but de renforcer la capacité innovatrice des PME's et d'assister l'industrie dans la transition vers un avenir durable. En notre qualité de centre de recherche, créé par et au bénéfice de l'industrie, nous initions et participons aux projets de recherche pré-compétitive, financés par les autorités et des projets de recherche privée et orientée vers le marché.

Afin de garantir une impartialité totale et d'éviter tout conflit d'intérêts, nous exluons explicitement toutes les activités au niveau du développement de produits dans ces domaines qui relèvent au champ d'application de la certification CE pour laquelle nous sommes accrédité.

<h2>Enzymatic functionalisation of collagens for medical applications</h2>
The aim of this precompetitive project is to develop new methods for the enzymatic functionalizing of native collagen structures and to use these structures as scaffolds in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems.

<h2>Development of test methods to determine phthalates in textiles</h2>
The coating of flexible PVC’s is an important industrial activity in the Belgian production of floor coverings, cables, tarpaulins, (car) seats, dashboards, sun visors, clothing and tapes. PVC owes its economic importance to its durability (very high stability), the relatively low costs and large production runs.

<h2>Development of improved PolyOlefin MELt ADhesion fibres and yarns and their implementation in textile applications </h2>
The control of the melting and weakening trajectory and the adhesion of polyolefin fibres is becoming more and more important for many textile applications. Examples can be found in composites, where the polyolefin fibres are compressed to a composite structure. In new type of composites, the matrix and the strengthening fibres are made from the same family of materials. The combinations of many polyolefin materials lead to various possibilities for different types of

Hernia operations are among the most common surgical procedures performed today with over 20 million cases annually worldwide. Hernia incidents are associated with pain and poor quality-of-life for the patient and lead to enormous healthcare costs, exceeding US $48 billion in the US annually.

With the SmartNets project, Centexbel wants to study SME networking for the development of new products. We work together with the Belgian partners LAMPE TEXTILES and DEVAN CHEMICALS and several other European partners.
SmartNets is a European FP7 project.

<h2>Integrated solutions for an improved sleep quality</h2>
ALL4REST, is focused on the development of comfort‐improved sleep systems, using non‐obtrusive technologies promoting a deeper and better recovering sleep and preventing nocturnal awakenings. The successful solutions will reduce the number of awakenings and/or the time to fall sleep after an awakening and reduce sleep onset latency (the length of time that it takes to accomplish the transition from full wakefulness to sleep).

<h2>Recherche de l'application des biopolymères dans le textile et les emballages</h2>
Au cours des dernières années, les biopolymères sont devenus un thème actuel qui gagnent aussi en importance au sein du secteur textile européen. C'est la raison pour laquelle, Euratex les a inscrits à "l'agenda stratégique de la recherche textile".

<h2>Research for the development of fully renewable thermoplastic bio-composites</h2>
Europe has set forward a new goal: the development of composites based on (nearly) 100% renewable products. This implies that both the fibre reinforcement and the matrix fraction (thermoset or thermoplastic) have to be bio-based.

The aim of the Bacteriosafe consortium is to construct, test and develop a unique active wound dressing, which incorporates novel colourimetric sensor and active therapeutic processes for detecting and counteracting pathogenic bacteria in wounds.

L'avènement de la globalisation a poussé les industries textiles européennes à implémenter de nouvelles technologies afin de maintenir la rentabilité du secteur. Parmi ces développements, nous pouvons noter l'application de fines couches d'apprêt de silane sur les textiles, un développement qui a été introduit au cours de la dernière décennie. Les propriétés extraordinaires de ces apprêts (fonctionnalisés) comportent entre autres une résistance à l'abrasion élevée et l'omniphobicité.