US government chooses Alexium for flame-retardant fabric project
The US government has awarded Alexium a $1.8 million contract to develop flame-retardent (FR) treatments on military fabrics.
The Australia-headquartered company will develop the treatment over four months in a deal worth $80,000 with an additional $70,000 awarded on discretion. If the government is satisfied and the project moves to Phase II, it will be granted an additional $1 million.
Stefan Susta, Alexium’s chief operating officer, said: “This project will accelerate the development of our FR treatments to nylon blends, such as nylon/cotton, and provides valuable additional product development resources. This is a great opportunity for Alexium to extend into new markets. We appreciate the support from the US Marine Corps and will work to quickly develop a technical solution tailored to their requirements.”
The contract is in addition to the project proposal submitted to a US Army request to develop and provide multi-threat protection for soldiers, focused on providing flame retardancy in combination with chemical/biological protection. This project is based on Alexium’s non-halogenated FR chemistry for synthetic fabrics, combining it with FR chemistries typically used for cellulosic fibres.
