Shriti Dham

Can we use machine learning to create a more sustainable alternate material for polyester in clothing and textiles?

Started Mar. 28, 2024

Abstract or project description

Polyester can be found in a variety of different products, however over 50 million tons are used in textiles alone every year. This creates a number of issues for the environment, coming from the production of polyester increasing greenhouse gases, and the usage of polyester products creating microplastics. Polyester is a type of plastic, meaning it does not degrade, further polluting the environment. Polyester is so common due to its versatility. It is known to be durable, elastic, hydrophobic, a thermoplastic, and especially cheap to produce. The aim is to find an alternative that has same performance as polyester, but a lower environmental impact. Through machine learning, properties can be predicted of new polymers using existing databases. Gathering databases of existing polymers and properties would allow for this, as well as needing to train graph neural networks to predict performance metrics of these new, more sustainable polymers. This would result in the creation of novel polymers or natural materials to answer if polyester can be successfully replaced in textiles.