The award for the best bachelor’s thesis went to Nora Torst from Mönchengladbach, a graduate of the Textile & Clothing Management degree program. In her thesis, which received an overall grade of 1.0, she investigated the chemical recycling of PET textiles finished with phosphorus-containing flame retardants. The aim of her research was to identify ways to recycle textile waste at a high quality while simultaneously recovering valuable raw materials.

To this end, she analyzed both different flame-retardant chemistries and various types of bonding of the flame retardants to the polyester fiber, and examined their behavior during a multi-stage chemical recycling process. Particular attention was paid to the fate of the phosphorus and the purity of the recycled terephthalic acid, an important feedstock for the production of PET. The bachelor’s thesis was carried out as part of the SiWerTEX research project at the Research Institute for Textiles and Clothing (FTB) at Hochschule Niederrhein, in cooperation with the Institute for Chemical and Thermal Process Engineering (ICTV) at TU Braunschweig (Technische Universität Braunschweig).

The awards are endowed with €1,500 each. The prize money was donated by the Association of the Rhenish Textile and Clothing Industry (Verband der Rheinischen Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie e. V.) and presented by Dr. Uwe Kirchhoff. Nora Torst plans to invest the prize money in her upcoming master’s studies in Australia.

Best master’s thesis

Fernanda Katharina Baum (degree program Textile Products) from Düsseldorf was also honored for her master’s thesis, which received an overall grade of 1.2.

In her work, the graduate examined the influence of various spinning finishes on the spinning process and the yarn properties of Lyocell-algae rotor-spun yarns. For this purpose, she produced yarns from Lyocell fibers and cultivated algae and analyzed how different rotors and take-off nozzles affect the spinning process. The focus was on both the running behavior during yarn production and the strength of the finished yarns. The results provide important insights for processing sustainable fiber materials.

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With more than 13,000 students, Hochschule Niederrhein is one of the largest and most capable universities of applied sciences in Germany, with campuses in Krefeld and Mönchengladbach. Its teaching and research profile combines technology and society across more than 50 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs. Hochschule Niederrhein was founded in 1971. Its roots go back to 1855, when the Crefeld Higher Weaving School was established.