Contex-T- textile materials for tensile surface structures

Contex-T, an EU-funded integrated project for SMEs, that spanned August 2006-August 2010, is a consortium of 29 partners from ten countries developing a multi-disciplinary group where high-tech SMEs, research institutes, and universities integrated their activities to develop a new generation of multifunctional textile materials. The project included investigating routes to develop new concepts and knowledge for the development and manufacturing of membranes which offer a safe and comfortable shelter. The group studied different routes for achieving an easy cleaning surface such as silicone top-coat on silicone rubber and UV-curing systems, topcoats based on acrylates, fluorocarbon, and other polymeric species, new types of fluorinated top-coat, and sol-gel based coatings. Materials were extensively tested for soiling and cleaning behavior using agreed laboratory test methods and outdoor exposure. The feasibility to integrate photovoltaic cells in membranes was also studied.

Publication year:2011