Dr Adine Gericke

Lecturer Office Room 2018, Polymer Science Building Tel: +27-21-808 3341 Email

 

Tertiary education

•  PhD, University of the Free State, 2022
•  MSc, University of Stellenbosch, 2001

Research activities

Since the launch of the degree in Textile and Polymer Science within the Department of Chemistry in 2003, my main focus was the development and coordination of the programme.  This relatively new approach in this field of study focuses on Textile and Polymer Science, with a solid base in Chemistry.

My research focus is on the application and evaluation of known and novel test methods for the quantitative measurement of moisture management properties in textiles – specifically nanofibre fabrics produced by the high-throughput electrospinning process.

Research description

The unique and specific characteristics of nanofibres make them useful for successful application in various fields such as biomedical applications, prosthesis, wound dressings, industrial filtration, etc.  It can also be applied in protective clothing. In most cases the successful application of a fabric structure to such a specific end use depends on its successful performance as a barrier or on its water or water vapour transport properties.  This makes a proper understanding of transmission of moisture in textile fabrics, both in liquid and vapour form, crucial.   In traditional textiles the intimate correlation between pore size within a structure and moisture migration rates has been thoroughly investigated.   The focus of our research is to investigate whether the same properties apply to nanofibre fabrics and whether the very fine and delicate nanofibres can maintain these properties in a variety of applications and conditions of use.

Selected publications

A GERICKE, L VILJOEN, R DE BRUIN.  2007. Compatibility of cotton/nylon and cotton/polyester warp-knit terry toweling with industrial laundering procedures. Textiles for Sustainable Development, Chapter 3.7, Nova Science Publishers.

A GERICKE, I VILJOEN, R DE BRUIN. 2007. Journal Of Family Ecology And Consumer Sciences. Cotton/polyester and cotton/nylon warp knitted terry cloth: Why minority fibre content is important. http://www.up.ac.za/saafecs/vol35/contentsvol35.html.  

A GERICKE, J VAN DER POL. 2010. Journal Of Family Ecology And Consumer Sciences. A comparative study of regenerated bamboo, cotton and viscose rayon fabrics.  Part 1:  Selected comfort properties. http://www.up.ac.za/saafecs/vol37/contentsvol37.html.

A GERICKE, J VAN DER POL. 2011. Journal Of Family Ecology And Consumer Sciences. A comparative study of regenerated bamboo, cotton and viscose rayon fabrics.  Part 2:  Anti-microbial  properties. http://www.up.ac.za/saafecs/vol39/contentsvol379.html.

Contributions at symposiums and conferences

A GERICKE. Compatibility of cotton/nylon and cotton/polyester warp-knit terry towelling with industrial laundering procedures. Paper presented at the 2005 FAO/ESCORENA International Conference “Textiles for Sustainable Development”, October 2006

A GERICKE. A new approach to tertiary education in textile science. Paper presented at NATCON 2006 International SADFA Conference, March 2006

A GERICKE, JI DEN HEIJER. Bleaching cotton with ozone – effect of dispersing medium. Poster presented at AUTEX 2010 10th World   Conference, 21-23 June 2010, Vilnius, Lithuania

H KRIEL H, A GERICKE, RD SANDERSON. Coaxial electrospinning of poly(lactic acid) core-shell fibres for the preparation of single polymer composite materials. Poster presented at AUTEX 2010 10^th World   Conference, 21-23 June 2010, Vilnius Lithuania

A GERICKE. Thermal and moisture transport properties of nanofiber web structures produced through the ball electrospinning process. Paper presented at the International Conference on Industrial Textiles, “INDUTECH 2012”, 3-4 August 2012, Coimbatore, India.