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 (London, U.K.) has now completed an extensive six-month trial with  (FET, Leeds, U.K.) a company known for its laboratory and pilot melt spinning equipment. Backed by a £173,000 grant from Innovate UK for feasibility studies, Rheon Labs says it has further developed its Rheon technology, a reactive polymer that dynamically stiffens when subjected to force. According to the company, the technology can control energy of any amplitude or frequency, from small vibrations to forces at ballistic speeds and therefore has a wide range of applications.

The Innovate UK Smart Grant-backed project — awarded under the Hyper-Viscoelastic Fibre Extrusion for Textile Manufacture category — aims to develop a hyper-viscoelastic fiber from Rheon which displays high strain-rate sensitive properties. Creating a fiber with distinctive strain-rate sensitive properties will be a world first, Rheon Labs claims. It will also enable the creation of what is said will be a “breakthrough-generation” of stretch textiles that can actively absorb, dampen and control energy during movement, rather than simply acting as a spring. The company points to close-fitting active wear and sports bras as application examples, where brands could engineer garments that relax during everyday use but actively stiffen during exercise for improved support and performance.

FET enabled the customer trials at its bespoke Fibre Development Centre in Leeds, U.K., using its in-house FET-103 Monofilament melt spinning facilities, in collaboration with Rheon and FET technical operatives. The next phase will be to upscale the trials of preferred materials on Rheon’s own new FET-103 melt spinning line, with FET’s continued support and expertise on hand.

Rheon Labs is a fast-growing materials technology company that was recently named as one of the top U.K. tech startups of 2021.