VANCOUVER – Canadian researchers have partnered up with the outdoor company Arc’teryx to create an oil-resistant, fluorine-free cloth finish utilizing a revolutionary method integrating fabric production with PFC-free surface-based coatings.
Lead scientist Kevin Golovin at the University of British Columbia said “It became clear that the construction of the fabric, i.e. the specific weave, twist, denier, etc., was as important as the coating when it came to (oil) repellence calculations,”
Previously, outdoor fabrics were usually handled with perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) to repel oil-based stains but at prolonged use, by-products of their manufacturing were found to be highly bio-persistent and hazardous.
