Toray says PFC-free water repellent on par with - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

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Toray says PFC-free water repellent on par with conventional finishes

18/02/2016
Japanese chemical and textile manufacturer Toray has developed a water repellent finish technology that does not require fluorinated compounds and enables performance and durability at a similar level to conventional treatments, it says.

Fluorinated compounds are used in the processing of textile products to add functionalities such as oil and soil repellency. However, the fluorine-based water repellent agents used for general processing contain perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an impure substance which is hard to break down due to its stable chemical structure, and there have been concerns about the negative impact of its accumulation in the body and the residuals in external environment.

The processing with non-fluorine-based water repellent agents that have been developed so far are inferior in initial water repellent performance and water repellent durability and it was necessary to coat the fibre surface of textile with a large amount of water repellent agents, making it harder to maintain the textile’s original texture and physical properties.

Toray’s technology has been developed to coat the fibre with the non-fluorine-based water repellent. Coating each fibre enables the function of the agent to evolve effectively, achieving water repellent functionality and durability. This achieves sufficient water repellent functionality with a small amount of agent and therefore does not affect the handle and physical properties of the textiles itself, it said.

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