Taking the shock out of textiles 

Conductive fiber technologies are tools for development in markets where unacceptable static discharge raises quality, health and safety concerns.

As many textile manufacturers search for non-commodity opportunities that add value for their customers, products developed for electrostatic discharge (ESD) control have shown promise. Whether for traditional clean-room apparel fabrics or antistatic conveyor belts, products that dissipate electrical charges continue to find their way into a broad array of markets.

Static Problems 

The unintended consequences of static discharge can cause serious problems in a number of environments. Explosions in grain storage facilities often are cited as one of the most prominent examples. However, static discharge also can 

• damage products in electronic assembly
• prevent production machinery from operating properly
• create a number of quality, health and safety concerns in the work environment. 

Refineries, medical operating rooms, pharmaceutical manufacturers, paint spraying and powder coating operations, electronics manufacturers, clean rooms and military operations are just some of the places where static-control textiles have served market demand.

In the automotive industry, product applications include seatbelts and upholstery. Bulk bags, antistatic brushes and conveyors and paper-forming belts make manufacturing safer and more efficient. Antistatic brushes inside printers are widely used hidden components. The commercial environment has benefited from using antistatic engineered commercial upholstery and flooring products — and the list goes on.

Conductive yarns and fibers 

There are a number of solutions to creating fabric formations that control static discharge. Aside from antistatic finishes, various inherent fiber and yarn configurations offering conductive characteristics may also provide benefits in knits, wovens and non-wovens. By incorporating conductive materials into the constructions, the fabrics safely collect and dissipate the static charge. Traditionally, man-made fibers have been combined with conductive materials to provide the necessary dissipation. These fibers then are incorporated into the fabric construction — in some cases woven in a simple check or stripe — to produce ample conductivity. In other cases, as little as 1-percent inclusion of conductive fiber can provide enough dissipation to meet the market specification.

Conductive materials typically include either silver, metallic monofilaments or fibers or carbon. They are doped, coated or extruded in varying cross sections to achieve the level of conductivity in a polymer that meets end-use requirements.

Other methods apply conductive materials to the surface of the fiber. Additionally, manufacturing techniques have been developed that embed carbon onto the surface of the fiber.

Some companies use a suffusion to incorporate carbon particles into nylon or polyester. This process chemically saturates the outer skin of the fiber with carbon particles and makes them an integral part of the structure of the fiber. This characteristic makes them both highly conductive and durable. The durability makes them useful in mechanical, chemical and thermal applications. 

The suffusion process chemically saturates the outer skin of the carrier fiber with carbon particles.

Value Added 

Antistatic applications continue to grow even though the battle to control ESD is not new. Applications including non-woven constructions used for dry filtration and conductive papers — and even the consumer demands for technical-oriented apparel — could present opportunities. Knit, woven and non-woven fabric constructions offer opportunities to combine varying fabric performance and cost levels with the added value of antistatic performance.

Swicofil is your partner to help you improving your textile and industrial textile product performance, to find new solutions for existing products, to explore new product design possibilities.

Long term experience in the field of synthetic and natural yarns and fibers enables us to guide you in the right direction. Knowing well the properties and performance of all the yarns and fibers and after many years of excellent contacts with the synthetic and natural fiber producers we are confident to be able to assist you.