TEXTILES.ORG
Belgium-based Europlasma, a developer of low-pressure plasma technology provides new nanocoatings for the textile and filtration industry under the Nanofics® brand name. Three nanocoating types have been designed for use on functional textiles:
- Nanofics 120® coatings are highly water repellent (water contact angle of 120 degrees according to ASTM D5964) and highly oil repellent (oil repellency level 8 according to ISO 14419) fluoropolymer type of nanocoatings deposited by low pressure plasma technology.
- Nanofics 110® coatings are highly water repellent (water contact angle of 110 degrees according to ASTM D5964) and highly oil repellent (oil repellency level 6 according to ISO 14419) fluoropolymer type of nanocoatings. The unique aspect of these coatings is that they are completely free from PFOA and PFOS.
Recently Europlasma has also launched the Nanofics 10® coating, which has, contrary to Nanofics 110® and 120®, very high affinity for water resulting in water contact angles of lower than 10 degrees according to ASTM D5964. The Nanofics 10® coating is able to transform any material—even PTFE—into a material with a permanently hydrophilic surface.
The Nanofics® coatings are only 50 to 500 nanometers thick and transparent (invisible to the human eye). They do not change the look and feel of the fabric, and maintain its breathability. The coatings can be applied on finished products such as garments or shoes, or on membranes or fabrics in a roll-to-roll fashion with Europlasma’s unique line of industrial coaters.