Versatile and cheap: the start-up company Fibre Coat has succeeded in coating individual basalt fibres with aluminium. Compared to the aluminium fibres commonly used so far, the costs of production are reduced to a tenth. With this feature, the Aachen-based company prevailed over strong competition at the Start-up Booster Competition at JEC World 2022 in Paris and was awarded the coveted prize on 4 May for "making high-performance materials affordable", as it was called. Alu Coat is the start-up's first market-ready product. Unlike currently used conductive polymer yarns, the fibres are thermally and electrically conductive and temperature resistant up to 600 °C. The product line includes chopped fibres and yarns consisting of up to 100 individual fibres, as well as woven or non-woven fabric. The material properties can be precisely adjusted via parameters such as the thickness of the coating or the diameter of the core fibres and adapted to specific requirements. "Our innovative high-performance fibres not only improve existing products," explains co-founder Robert Brüll, "they offer opportunities for completely new applications with lightweight, flexible fabrics. Alu Coat opens up new possibilities for smart textiles or electromagnetic shielding in vehicles or buildings."
The high-performance fibres will also be presented at Techtextil from 21 to 24 June 2022 in Frankfurt am Main, the international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens. Interested parties can make an appointment with Fibre Coat at info@fibrecoat.de.
Autor(en): wi
