Eco-friendly textiles without PFAS

"The technology is environmentally friendly and also has interesting economic potential"

17-Apr-2024 - 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 ...

When damaged ropes change color

Wafer-thin layers with great effect

07-Jan-2021 - High-performance fibres that have been exposed to high temperatures usually lose their mechanical properties undetected and, in the worst case, can tear precisely when lives depend on them. For example, safety ropes used by fire brigades or suspension ropes for heavy loads on construction sites. ...

Biofuels and sophisticated materials cycles thanks to bio-templating

Mini power plants from coated blue-green algae

31-Aug-2020 - Blue-green algae are among the oldest living creatures on Earth and have perfected the use of sunlight over billions of years. Empa scientists have now equipped these humble unicellular organisms with semiconductor coatings to create mini power plants, which supply biofuels and are ...

No nano-dust danger from façade paint

15-Jan-2014 - After 42 months the EU research project «NanoHouse» has ended, and the verdict is a cautious "all clear" – nanoparticles in the paint used on building façades do not represent a particular health risk. In the course of a «Technology Briefing» Empa researchers discussed these results with ...

Empa researchers «design» therapeutic coatings of silver

09-Jul-2010 - Empa researchers have demonstrated how they can adjust process conditions to influence the properties of novel plasma polymer coatings containing silver nanoparticles. Tailor-made films can be generated through a one-step plasma process. The scientists developed these new coatings, which kill ...