By Rachel Beck, Lebanon Express writer | Posted: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 12:00 am
Leave it to a Willamette Valley company to perfect a waterproof, breathable material that can be integrated into clothing to fight the unappealing effects of both precipitation and perspiration.
Entek Membranes LLC has created Xscape (TM), a microporous membrane made specifically for use in outdoor clothing and equipment.
The material is produced in rolls, which are then laminated to a fabric such as nylon. The resulting fabric is waterproof but allows water vapor (moisture) to pass through, keeping the wearer dry and comfortable.
"Essentially it allows you, in a jacket, to move the moisture from near your body to outside," said Rick Pekala, vice president of research and development at Entek Membranes.
Gore-tex®, a similar material often used in outerwear, has a thin, non-porous coating that slows the transfer of moisture. Xscape does not have that problem.
"The performance of this is outstanding from a technical standpoint," Pekala said.
Xscape was recently named to R&D magazine's annual list of 100 most technologically significant products.
One major engineering feat was to make the material so that it didn't lose its waterproof quality from washing.
"It seems simple, but there's actually a lot of technology here," Pekala said.
Xscape is not very unlike other microporous membranes produced by Entek. The company makes a material used as a car battery separator, and a thinner material known as Teklon that is used in cell phone batteries.
Moving into the fabric industry was a natural outgrowth of that technology.
"It's a great opportunity to be into a new market space," Pekala said.
There has been a learning curve.
"The way the fabric industry works is a lot different than the battery industry," Pekala said.
Fabric has a different set of requirements than battery separators do. Characteristics like drape, stretch and feel are important.
"Realistically, we've probably been working on this on a low level since about four years ago," Pekala said.
It's only in the last 12 to 15 months that they've solved problems and tackled the industry requirements.
Entek now needs to find partners to laminate Xscape® with fabric and to design and market garments made from that product.
"There's actually a pretty complicated structure in terms of how a product can get introduced into this market," Pekala said.
Ideally, consumers would be able to purchase items made with Xscape in the not-too-distant future.
"We're really hoping by the end of the year we can have this material qualified in a jacket-type product," Pekala said.
What does that mean for the Lebanon plant? If Entek gets to the point of selling millions of yards, they would need a new product line and employees.
But as Pekala noted, it won't happen overnight.
"What you always find is things take a little longer than you expected."
Teklon, he noted, started small, but the company now produces 20 million square meters a year.
"The same possibilities exist for Xscape®," he said.