Nanotechnology: It's getting bigger

01/01/2011

(Specialty Fabrics Review) - There has been increasing momentum in recent years in the use of nanotechnology to provide textile products with new and enhanced properties, such as stain and water repellence, flame retardance, antimicrobial properties, UV protection, abrasion resistance, odor absorption and insect repellence. With such wide-ranging and importance performance properties, it’s not surprising that nanotechnology has been identified as a key technology for the future of textiles.

While the textile market was one of the first to manufacture nanotechnology-based finished goods, only a small percentage of all products in the textile market incorporate nanotechnology. There are several reasons for this low penetration: high costs associated with nano-enabled products, limitations in obtaining some of the functions to meet market requirements, questions about safety and lack of knowledge among consumers and companies about nano benefits and potential.

“One of the things that has to happen before commercialization can occur is the consumer has to understand it. ‘This shirt or this textile is a nanotextile’ doesn’t mean anything to them. It’s the benefits that nanotechnology can do for them. That’s the real communication point,” says Ben Favret, founder, president and CEO of Vestagen Technical Textiles LLC in Orlando, Fla., which produces Vestex™ high-tech garments from nano-enhanced fabrics that are breathable, antimicrobial and fluid repellent.

Vestagen’s strategy is to launch its Vestex product in the healthcare market with a focus on helping to protect healthcare workers and reduce microbial contamination. The medical market is different from other markets in that it is highly regulated, and therefore data driven, and it is reliant on peer-reviewed, evidence-based studies that support the product’s effectiveness. That’s important, says Favret, because once you get the data out there, it also gives rise to other markets that rely on documented medical evidence for a product’s safety and protection.

“OSHA is already looking at how to protect health care workers and the community from infectious conditions and other contaminants,” says Favret. “Through the pervasiveness of nano-enhanced fabrics and a call for new standards, it can transform the medical market and then pave the way for wide-scale adoption and commercialization in other markets.”

After just one year, Vestex garments have been adopted by several large universities and heathcare facilities in a number of states. Vestagen’s research data also translates to the child care, athletic, food processing and service worker industries.

Read the full article here: http://specialtyfabricsreview.com/articles/0111_f2_bigger_nanotechnology.html

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