• Date 2024-04-19

Finally ecofriendly

Rain jackets, swimming trunks or upholstery fabrics: Textiles with water-repellent properties require chemical impregnation. Although fluorine-containing PFAS chemicals are effective, they are also harmful to human health and accumulate in the environment. Empa researchers are now developing a process with alternative substances that can be used to produce ecofriendly water-repellent textile fibers. Initial analyses show: The novel fibers repel water more effectively and dry faster than those of conventional products.

If swimming trunks are to retain their shape after swimming and dry quickly, they must combine two properties: They must be elastic and not soak up water. This water-repellent effect can be achieved by treating textiles with chemicals that give the elastic garment so-called hydrophobic properties. In the 1970s, industry began to utilize new synthetic fluorine compounds for this purpose – compounds that seemed to offer countless applications, but later turned out to be highly problematic. This is because these fluorocarbon compounds, PFAS in short, accumulate in the environment and are harmful to our health. Empa researchers are therefore working with Swiss textile companies to develop alternative environmentally friendly processes that can be used to give fibers a water-repellent finish. Dirk Hegemann from Empa's Advanced Fibers Laboratory in St. Gallen explains that instead of fluorine-containing PFAS the Innosuisse-funded project uses highly cross-linked siloxanes which form silicone-like layers.

Source and further information: Empa, Apr 16, 2024,
https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/umweltfreundliche-textilien-ohne-pfas