Environmental sustainability is a vital issue in the clothing industry due to a large percentage of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from clothing manufacturing to consumption. The main GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). Carbon dioxide is considered as the most significant greenhouse gas. The carbon footprint (CFP) of clothing supply chain reflects the GHG emissions throughout the life cycle of a product or activity, and CFP assessment is an important approach to assess GHG emissions. Polyester is one of the most widely used synthetic fibres in the world, but it is produced from non-renewable resources. In this study, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a polyester T-shirt imported to Australia from China has been undertaken to examine the processes which cause GHG emissions across the life cycle. The results of the baseline model showed that consumer use phase contributes the highest CFP 30.35%, and second highest contributor is polyester fibre production process. Within the production phase, spinning is the highest contributor of CFP due to high electric energy demand. Within the consumer use phase, CFP is dominated by the washing process. The results of the model can be considered reliable comparing with other related studies.

This research revolves around the geometrical modelling of stitch class 504 and jacquard warp knitted fabric for the prediction of sewing thread consumption for the stitching of an article and for the prediction of yarn consumption in knitted structures and improvement of warp knitting simulation software i.e HZCAD respectively. The thread is a basic fundamental raw material for garment manufacturing industry. After considering thread’s performance and appearance the major attention is to resolve the cost. The objective of this project is to develop a geometrical model for stitch class 504, to predict actual required thread consumption and its actual thread cost and to develop the garment. It was concluded that the derived geometrical formula predicted the thread consumption accurately up to 90.34%. In the same way the same geometrical modelling technique was applied on the jacquard wapr knitted favric for the prediction of the yarn consumption also the models were used to improve the warp knitting simulation software. In the industry these geometrical formula can save time and can be helpful in calculating the costing of thread/ yarn. It will expand profit margin and save time.

Water aging is one of the causes of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (FRTP) degradation during long-term service. It affects not only the mechanical properties of FRTPs, but also their erosion by solid particles. However, little research has been done on the effects of water aging on the erosion of FRTPs. The aim of this research was to study the effects of hot water absorption and desorption on the solid particle erosion of carbon-fiber-reinforced poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) composites. It was found that the PET-based composite erosion rate increased with increasing immersion time and decreased after redrying, whereas, the PET resin erosion rate decreased after hot water treatment. These effects depended on changes in the resin/fiber interfacial strength. Changes in the interfacial strength were investigated using short beam shear tests and dynamic mechanical analysis. It can be found that the interlaminar shear strength of the composite decreased sharply after hot water treatment based on the results of short beam shear tests and the storage modulus and glass-transition temperature decreased after hot water treatment according to the results of dynamic mechanical analysis.

A series of composites of carbon fibre-reinforced polyamide1012 (PA1012) were prepared which the carbon fibre content was from 5% to 40%. Their thermo-mechanical properties and fracture morphology were characterized by means of thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), a microcomputer-controlled electronic universal tester, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), respectively. The results showed that the initial decomposition temperature of the composite was above 400°C. With the increase in carbon fibre content, the tensile strength and elastic modulus of the composites were improved. When the carbon fibre content was 15%, it was found that the maximum values of tensile strength and elastic modulus were 87.01 MPa and 438.31 MPa, respectively. The images of SEM showed that the surface modified carbon fibre was superior to original carbon fibre. It was also observed that the surface of modified carbon fibre had some particles that may have contained the ester group, which could have improved the interfacial bonding strength.

Graphene Oxides (GOs) of different sheet size were prepared by a novel modified Hummers’ method. The heating time for expandable graphite, and oxidating time of expanded graphite are demonstrated in order to have an influence on GO sheet size. Over-heated graphite in the microwave causes the decrease of GO sheet size, leading to a reduction in the performance of graphene fibres’ mechanical properties. The oxidation mechanism was proposed by analyzing the chemical structure model of GO and evaluating its functional groups. Aggregation of GO sheets leads to the increase of internal shear stress, thus changing the viscosity of GO dispersion. Viscosity is another characteristic relating to the forming of graphene oxide liquid crystals (GO LC) and its phase transformation, which affects the mechanical properties of graphene fibres in the process of wet-spinning.