Hi-Tec and P2i to present at OutDoor
UK-based sports brand Hi-Tec is to join forces with Oxford-based technology firm P2i Ltd at OutDoor, which is to be held July 17-20 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The two firms will present lightweight, waterproof shoes featuring ion-mask enhancement, a plasma treatment originally developed to protect soldiers from chemical attack. The treatment applies a protective layer, just nanometres thick, over the surface of the shoe using an ionised gas or ‘plasma’, not only nano-coating the external surfaces of the shoe but also the inside, between and around the individual fibres in the shoe.
P2i’s business development director, Dr Ian Robins, said: “OutDoor 2008 is the perfect place to demonstrate this significant breakthrough in shoe technology to an audience of trade experts.
“The footwear industry has spent many years trying to make sports shoes non water-absorbent and truly breathable without adding weight and we have been able to deliver the solution.
“The technology is ideal for a broader range of synthetic materials and also in electronic devices such as iPods, mobile phones and PDAs that are required to work both indoors and outdoors which poses the risk of water ingress and damage.”
