We primarily work in rubber, polyurethane and silicone, but we are not restricted to only these polymers.
Sustainable Materials
Bio-derived polyurethanes are of interest. As many of our products go into regulated industries, good control of the bio-derived content is important, for example, mass-balanced products would need a clearly defined and controlled range for the bio content.
The use of water-based polyurethanes is a long-standing goal, but to date we have not found anything that meets our requirements. The PU needs excellent hydrolysis resistance and launderability (5 x 70⁰C wash), resistance to 10,000ppm chlorine bleach (48h continuous exposure) and RF weldability. If you have a solution please get in touch.
Polyurethanes that are biodegradable would be of interest.
Coated fabrics are difficult to recycle at end of life. Any technologies that would allow the product to perform normally during its lifetime but allow easy separation of textile from coating at end of life would be of interest.
The use of water-based polyurethanes is a long-standing goal, but to date we have not found anything that meets our requirements. The PU needs excellent hydrolysis resistance and launderability (5 x 70⁰C wash), resistance to 10,000ppm chlorine bleach (48h continuous exposure) and RF weldability. If you have a solution please get in touch.
Polyurethanes that are biodegradable would be of interest.
Coated fabrics are difficult to recycle at end of life. Any technologies that would allow the product to perform normally during its lifetime but allow easy separation of textile from coating at end of life would be of interest.
High Performance
UV-C resistant. Increasingly, hospital wards are disinfected using systems based on UV-C floodlights. The decontamination is carried out with the furniture in-situ. This means that the polyurethanes used in the mattress cover fabrics and in the upholstery of the seating need to be resistant to UV-C. We would be interested in grades of polyurethane specifically synthesised for UV-C resistance, and in additives to increase resistance to UV-C.
Puncture resistant / self-sealing – we make coated fabrics for hospital mattress covers, portable fuel tanks, escape slides and many other applications where a puncture would represent a critical failure. Grades of polyurethane, silicone or rubber that are particularly puncture-resistant would be very interesting as would technologies that allow the coated fabric to self-seal if punctured.
Many of our fabrics are used in high-wear environments, be it a seat in a hospital waiting room or a protective bellow. Grades of polyurethane, silicone or rubber that offer particularly high abrasion resistance would be of interest to us. We are also interested in additives that increase abrasion resistance in these polymers.
Puncture resistant / self-sealing – we make coated fabrics for hospital mattress covers, portable fuel tanks, escape slides and many other applications where a puncture would represent a critical failure. Grades of polyurethane, silicone or rubber that are particularly puncture-resistant would be very interesting as would technologies that allow the coated fabric to self-seal if punctured.
Many of our fabrics are used in high-wear environments, be it a seat in a hospital waiting room or a protective bellow. Grades of polyurethane, silicone or rubber that offer particularly high abrasion resistance would be of interest to us. We are also interested in additives that increase abrasion resistance in these polymers.