The Australian Government's Innovation Report

Advanced materials
Quick dry merino: CSIRO researchers are hopeful a
new quick-drying wool fabric will lift wool use by allowing
wool to compete with synthetics and cotton in the
lucrative sportswear markets.
Quick Dry Merino, developed and commercialised by
CSIRO Textiles and Fibre Technology, repels water
and dries at the same rate or faster than polyester and
acrylic knitwear. Compared to untreated wool garments,
quick-dry garments hold only one quarter of the amount
of water after washing and drip-dry in one quarter of
the time.
Quick dry merino treated wool fabrics repel rather than absorb water.
Photo credits: David McClenaghan
After spinning in a washing machine, treated garments
air-dry in two hours instead of the usual three – a
perfor mance similar to that of polyester. They also cost
less to maintain when tumble-dried because tumbledrying
costs are directly related to the mass of water
retained after spin-drying.
The fabric is aimed at the machine-washable knitwear
market and has undergone commercial trials in
Australia and overseas on 19-micron wool. CSIRO has
also conducted trials on superfine 16-micron wool at
its Geelong laboratories.
HySSIL is a revolutionary aerated cement-based product that is as strong
as normal concrete but is only half as heavy. It provides up to five times
the thermal insulation of concrete and is also impact and fire resistant.
Photo credits: Mark Fergus
Stretching the limits of material science: The
natural substance that gives many insects their flying
and leaping abilities is the source of a new material
that researchers believe will lead to a whole new class
of advanced rubber-like materials.
The expected commercial applications of resilin span
numerous industries including medicine, sport, leisure
goods and defence. This anticipated rubber makeover arises
from the work of molecular biologists from CSIRO.
When the genetic instructions for making resilin, a
protein, were identified in the fruit fly genome in
2001, the CSIRO grasped its importance to materials
science. Research collaborators discovered and then
patented a way to artificially mesh resilin molecules so the material set into an easily moulded and rubbery solid.
Resilin has two particularly useful properties – long fatigue life and resilience to wear. It can be stressed for
hundreds of millions of cycles and continue to give perfect performance.
The researchers own the worldwide patents for resilin’s advanced performance traits, giving them the task of
articulating and developing resilin’s commercial possibilities. Products made from resilin could include implants
for the human body, sensors, engineering applications, and consumer products like high performance athletic shoes.
New material for lighter buildings: A team of researchers at CSIRO has developed a new lightweight
concrete panel technology with superior engineering and environmental performance.
At half the weight of concrete panels of the same strength, HySSIL technology can greatly reduce building weight
and foundation sizes. It has a unique cellular structure that provides up to five times the thermal insulation of
conventional concrete.
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