Polyurethane (PU) textile coatings are very versatile and used in various applications with high demanding requirements. For some applications, PU is the only appropriate coating material, thanks to the following properties:
  • ability to be used in dry-cleaning
  • low temperature flexibility
  • high mechanical properties (tensile and tear strength)
  • outstanding abrasion resistance
  • flexibility and softness

PU Technologies for High Quality Textile Coatings

The versatility of PU has resulted into a lot of developments in the search of new PU technologies and materials to be used for coating, such as 100% PU, waterbased, 1K PU, 2K PU and UV-curables. Some of these technologies are not fully explored regarding their possibilities for textiles. Solvent-based PU coatings are still used because they enable some combinations of properties (e.g. weldability and wash resistance) that were not feasible up till now with water-based systems. One of the most currently used solvents is N,N-dimethyl formamide (DMF). At the end of 2012, DMF was SVHC listed (substances of very high concern). This means that when the amount of DMF in the final product exceeds 0.1 wt% it must be communicated to the customer. It is clear that with the growing awareness of health and safety related issues, customers will refuse to use coated textiles based on DMF.

Aim of the project

The aim of the project is to investigate the new and improved PU technologies that recently came onto the market.
  • in what properties do they differ from the existing technologies?
  • can they replace the DMF based PU formulation guaranteeing the same final properties?
Project funding:
CORNET