Long-lasting waterproofing from the University of Zurich
The University of Zurich claims to have come up with a way of preventing fabrics becoming wet using nanotechnology.
It says that superhydrophobic textile fabrics can be prepared using a simple, one-step gas phase coating procedure. This places a layer of polymethylsilsesquioxane nanofilaments onto the individual textile fibres.
The university claims 11 textile fabrics made from natural and manmade fibres have been successfully coated and their superhydrophobic properties have been evaluated using a water-shedding angle technique.
”Because of the special surface geometry generated by the nanoscopic, fibrous coating on the microscopic, fibrous textiles, the coated fabric remains completely dry even after two months of full immersion in water and stays superhydrophobic even after continuous rubbing with a skin simulating friction partner under significant load,” it says in a statement.
”Furthermore, important textile parameters such as tensile strength, colour, and haptics are unaffected by the silicone nano-filament coating.”
