TEXTILES.ORG
HeiQ’s founding story involves hiking through the Swiss Alps, smelly tech-shirts and unhappy girlfriends. Since then, HeiQ has focused on odor control In textiles. The company’s latest product, HeiQ Fresh NKU, is meant to capture and transform volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The compnay says that the working principle of the technology behind HeiQ Fresh NKU odor control is to enable the elimination of volatile malodors on textiles, beyond body odor deriving from bacterial sweat metabolites. The product even promises to remove the “plastic” smell of polyester generated by its monomeric components, synthetic smells in new cars and exuded hormonal odor. HeiQ Fresh NKU sequesters these VOCs to its surface-functionalized sorbent particles, which are engineered alumina-silica microparticles. Unpleasant volatile odor compounds are immobilized on the large surface of the particles in the textile and turned into nonvolatile and, therefore, non-perceivable odor compounds.
Fabrics treated with HeiQ’s new odor sequestering technology are tested according to an international deodorant efficacy test. HeiQ notes that, with the help of a gas detector tube, the reduction rate of VOCs like ammonia or acetic acid gas is measured, indicating the sequestration potential of malodors by functionalized textiles.
HeiQ says the new odor-sequestering technology is particularly suitable for polyester fabrics, though generally applicable to all fiber substrates.
Founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), HeiQ creates effective, durable and high-performance textile effects.