Eco-friendly textiles without PFAS

"The technology is environmentally friendly and also has interesting economic potential"

17-Apr-2024 - Rain jackets, swimming trunks or upholstery fabrics: Textiles with water-repellent properties require chemical impregnation. Although fluorine-containing PFAS chemicals are effective, they are also harmful to human health and accumulate in the environment. Empa researchers are now developing a ...

Inspired by the gecko: Better adhesion properties of plastics through combined micro- and nanostructures

Structured surface improves adhesion, wettability, optical reflection, hydrophobicity and recyclability.

27-Feb-2024 - With a patented process for micro-nano-structuring, the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS in Halle (Saale) has achieved significant improvements in the adhesion properties of polymers. The process, in which structured surfaces are produced by hot imprinting or ...

Tying up molecules as easily as you tie up your laces

New perspectives for designing materials and transferring information molecularly

02-Mar-2020 - Knots are all around us: in computer cables, headphones and wires. But, although they can be a nuisance, they're also very useful when it comes to tying up your laces or when you go sailing. In maths, there are no less than six billion different potential knots, but what about knots in chemistry? ...

Researcher invents an easy-to-use technique to measure the hydrophobicity of micro- and nanoparticles

21-Oct-2019 - The scientific and industrial communities who work with micro- and nanoparticles continue to labor with the challenge of effective particle dispersion. Most particles that disperse in liquids aggregate rapidly, and eventually precipitate, thereby separating from the liquid phase. While it is ...

Shaking off fluorochemicals from outdoor and protective clothing

Most treated clothing over-engineered for consumer purposes

31-Jan-2019 - Rain-repelling fluorochemicals used in waterproof clothing can and should be phased out as unnecessary and environmentally harmful, textile researchers argue. And yet they remain the only effective option for medics and emergency service personnel. New research demonstrates how waterproofs using ...

Libraries for Proteins

Dynamic combinatorial libraries generated from hydrazone-functionalized surface mimetics

29-May-2018 - Combinatorial libraries are a key component of the chemist's toolkit for ligand screening. Dynamic combinatorial libraries add a new dimension by interlinking synthesis and screening. Now, British scientists have developed a dynamic combinatorial library for the screening of supramolecular ligand ...

Slick solution for oil spills set to clean up

20-Apr-2018 - Polluted beaches, oily water, dead birds and marine life destruction caused by crude oil spills could be a thing of the past with pioneering new research led by Flinders University. An exciting, more sustainable answer to effectively clean up oil spill destruction follows development of a new way ...

Waterproofing and antifouling materials developed

12-Jun-2017 - 'Green' project led by Swansea scientists could replace more expensive and hazardous materials used for waterproofing and antifouling/fogging. New materials have been developed by scientists in the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Swansea University which is nontoxic, economical and ...

Rare Earths Become Water-repellent Only as They Age

23-Mar-2017 - Surfaces that have been coated with rare earth oxides develop water-repelling properties only after contact with air. Even at room temperature, chemical reactions begin with hydrocarbons in the air. In the journal Scientific Reports, researchers from the University of Basel, the Swiss Nanoscience ...

Nano-level lubricant tuning improves material for electronic devices and surface coatings

14-Feb-2017 - Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which is ubiquitously used as a solid lubricant, has recently been shown to have a two-dimensional (2D) form that is similar to graphene. But, when thinned down to less than a nanometer thick,MoS2 demonstrates properties with great promise as a functional material ...