Dear readers,A new year has already started a few weeks ago, opening the door to exciting new research activities and further investigations into emerging materials that drive our everyday lives. One of the key missions of the EMMR Journal is to keep the community informed about the latest developments and perspectives in this rapidly evolving field. In this first special issue of 2026, we want to place a particular focus on fibrous materials. Actually, over the last few decades, fibrous constructions have gained interest far beyond classic apparel application. Textiles have been largely used as technical products, like composite materials reinforcement, textile medical implants, smart fibrous-based devices for flexible sensor applications considered generally as “wearable” electronics, bio-sourced fibrous textile assemblies for environmentally friendly applications like building isolation in civil engineering or recycled cloth production.Fibrous materials are unique because they combine low weight, high tensile strength and remarkable flexibility. The latter is what makes them comfortable as apparel products. These properties in textiles are primarily due to bonding between the chains in fibres and no direct bonding between fibres in the yarn and between yarns in the fabric. Fibers in yarns and yarns in a fabric can slip when flexed. The ratio between bending stiffness and tensile strength is consequently very low for these specific constructions, and similar properties are very difficult to reproduce with any other material. The papers presented in this issue all deal with current textile research applications, and explore the potential of fibrous materials in the field of health, wearable electronics, composites, and environment-friendly materials.Fibrous materials are increasingly confronted with the challenge of material recycling, which is one of the key subjects we wish to highlight in this special issue. The textile industry is in fact one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, and strategies need to be developed by researchers to address this challenge. Strategies need to be developed by researchers to face that challenge. In that context, Kunzelmann and Kyosev11 presented a comprehensive overview of existing technologies for the efficient implementation of recycling processes within the textile sector. Various processes are discussed and their limitations and opportunities are analyzed critically. Furthermore, the existing classification of recycling processes is presented to take a look at available technologies. Potential new recycling pathways are also addressed. The global overview presented in the paper shows that things are moving in the field, which is promising.Regarding the field of composite materials, research is bubbling as the domain opens the door to the development of strong but much lighter materials that could eventually replace metals in a number of applications. While fibres are the key components of these materials, several issues still need to be addressed to optimise the way these fibres are assembled and shaped, but also how they can be recycled. In that context, natural fibre-reinforced composites are the focus of extensive research for various engineering applications like the automotive and aerospace industries. Recently, research has been conducted on the impact performance of natural fibre-reinforced composites, including flax, jute, hemp, and abaca. Shaik et al.1 investigated in particular the impact behaviour of abaca/epoxy composite materials. The influence of the number of layers on energy absorption and on the force for damage initiation is investigated. It comes out that the impact of energy absorption and energy absorption ratio decreases when more layers are involved. Moreover, the composite with a larger number of layers requires more perforation energy. The force required for damage initiation and peak force also increases with an increase in the number of layers. The study highlights in particular that the four-layered composite may be used for structures where energy absorption is predominant. The eight-layered composite may be used where impact resistance is predominant.Ramaiah et al.2 also focus on composite reinforcement behaviour from the fibrous material selection point of view. It goes into the material chosen to produce the reinforcement and explores the introduction of sisal fibres in the reinforcement by combining sisal and carbon fibres. The goal is to obtain a more eco-friendly final material, which however respects the required mechanical properties. The characterisation tests performed on the tested materials bring out that by playing with the matrix concentration and the number of plies, it is possible to reach strength properties similar to those of glass fibre composites, while the energy absorption capacity is increased. This makes these materials particularly suited to the automotive industry as the increased toughness minimises crack propagation and delays failure under dynamic loading.Another key issue related to composite material is presented in Zhang et al.3 and deals with shaping concerns related to fibrous mats used as composite reinforcements. The study shows in particular how essential it is to control the bending stiffness of the textile during forming processes to avoid wrinkling formation. By comparing two fabric layer assembling processes (stitching and tufting) in terms of bending stiffness, results show that tufting is more performant than stitching, and helps produce fibrous constructions which are easier to shape. Moreover, the work shows that when models are used to predict fabric deformation, it is important to consider non-linear bending stiffness as it provides more accurate results.Composite material with fibrous reinforcement is also considered in civil engineering applications, as discussed in Su et al.4 In this case, fibres are of short size and spread in a non-organised configuration in the composite matrix. Producing concretes, which are fatigue and chloride-migration-resistant, is a challenge that remains tricky to face. High-performance concrete exhibits superior durability characteristics due to its dense microstructure and reduced pore connectivity, but the mechanical properties need to be enhanced. The manuscript reminds us how the addition of basalt fibres in concrete can definitely improve tensile strength, flexural capacity, crack resistance, or fatigue performance. It investigates in more detail the relationship between the concrete pore structure and its chloride transport properties, particularly under realistic multi-salt marine conditions. Results show that the chloride concentration in concrete is significantly influenced by fibre type, content, and mixing methodology.The potential of textile technologies in the development of wearable electronics is investigated in Garnier et al.5 which explores the design of a so-called ‘rectenna’. The purpose of this innovative device is to perform signal rectification (from AC to DC) based on magnetic induction, while all circuit components are integrated in a textile garment through an industrial embroidery process. This circuit, which uses only one diode, can convert a 2 Vpp alternating voltage into a 0.9 V direct voltage. The voltage rectification efficiency is close to 45%. The approach shows that such wearable electronics can be used to transfer power around the human body through the garment. The magnetic induction can, for example, be provided by a phone placed in a pocket.Textiles dedicated to medical applications, one of the major research fields related to fibrous materials, are also presented in this issue. Fibrous mats can be used in various ways in the medical field. They can first be used as protective substance carrier in a garment as shown in papers. Mirmohammadsadeghi et al.6 and He et al.7 Mirmohammadsadeghi et al.6 tested the effect of the green antimicrobial Vikang99 on cotton textiles considering various concentrations. The antibacterial effect was studied with five common various bacterial strains. It comes out, for example, that for samples coated with the 10-times dilution, the log10 reduction was 2.7 for S. aureus and 3.1 for E. coli, which proves the efficacy of the coating. Moreover, when studying the effect of washing, results show that treated samples retained over 98.5% antibacterial efficacy even after 20 wash cycles. He et al.7 investigated citrus waste oil and turmeric as mosquito repellent and antibacterial coating on cotton material. The evaluation of the samples pre- and post-treatment show that the antimicrobial efficacy of the cotton fabrics was 91.46%, the mosquito repellent efficacy was 90.17%, and the tensile strength was increased by 33.3%. The study highlights how green coatings can help improve the performance of fabrics towards human protection against bacteria and mosquito bites.Besides coated textiles, fibrous materials can also be considered as an implant or wound dressing material. In both applications, a standard way to use fibres is to produce electrospun (ES) mats. Mohammadi et al.8 investigated the potential of polylactic (PLA) acid-curcumin (Cur)-graphene oxide (GO) composite nanofibers for wound dressing. PLA reproduces the structure of the extracellular matrix; Cur has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties; and GO promotes cell adhesion and cell growth. The paper evaluates then the morphology of the obtained mats in terms of fibre diameter and porosity. It also studies the water absorption of the samples for various GO concentrations. Results bring out that the incorporation of GO into PLA/Cur nanofiber leads to an increase in nanofiber diameter and the percentage of drug release, while simultaneously reducing water absorption. The presence of GO exhibits a significant influence on fibroblasts cell adhesion. The study shows that PLA containing Cur-GO are viable nanofiber with a regulated degradation rate accompanied by good cell viability and adhesion, offering great potential for burn wound healing.Wang et al.9 investigated the use of ES mats for corneal tissue engineering. The use of polyaniline (PANI) in the ES mat allows providing the fibrous construction with good electrical conductivity. This latter parameter is essential for corneal wound healing as corneal cells respond positively to endogenous electrical fields. To compensate the weak processability, mechanical behaviour, and biodegradability of the PANI polymer, it is combined with PCL. In addition, gelatine is integrated into the mat to make it more hydrophilic. The obtained hybrid mats were then compared with PCL mats in terms of mechanical properties, degradability, and interaction with cells. The results indicate that the environment of the PANI–PCL scaffold was more similar, if not better, to the PCL scaffolds, with better cell activity, proliferation, and binding to scaffold attachment. Finally, the work confirms the possibility of conductive tissue-engineered corneal scaffolds manufacturing.Electrospun mats have been largely used as scaffold material for tissue engineering over the last few years. However, the lack of strength of these fibrous structures makes them unsuitable for the design of implants like vascular grafts. For this latter application, woven and knitted textiles remain the gold standard, despite the lack of elasticity that characterises these implants. The purpose of the paper by Asaad et al.10 is to improve the compliance (deformation under cyclic cardiac loading) of these grafts by adding Nitinol (NiTi) segments to the textile made with yarns initially oriented at 45°. The yarn orientation provides the deformability, while the NiTi provides the elastic function and spring-back effect. The study first analyses the segment design to obtain deformation rates compatible with physiological requirements. It compares then the mechanical behaviour of mono and multifilament textiles assembled with the NiTi segments. Results bring out that the combination of both materials allows to obtain 3.5% deformation on hybrid strips tested under extension with appropriate elastic spring back effect.Based on the description of the papers presented above, we hope you will enjoy the content of this issue. As can be seen, fibrous materials are everywhere and deserve deep attention. We would be more than happy if the scientific and technical information presented in that issue could inspire your activity in some way and make your research go forward.
Heim et al. (Thu,) studied this question.