ST GALLEN - A team from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) has developed a water-repellent coating process for textiles which, the team says, can provide an alternative to the use of fluorine-containing PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) ‘forever chemicals’.
The plasma coating, which can also be used on elastane fibres, uses a formulation of highly cross-linked siloxanes – often described as silicones – which are atomised and activated in a reactive gas.
