The goal of the MiFas project (German for Mikrostrukturierte Faseroberflächen) was the development of a process to apply micro- and nanostructures on the surface of a fiber. With an imprinting shim, structures are transfused by a physical forming process; thus, no chemical modification of the fiber is necessary.

Principle of Function

Empa and PSI developed a method for imprinting exact defined micro- and nanostructures by use of an imprinting shim. The imprinting shim is a brass plate made by a lithographic process and is fixed on a cylinder for continuous imprinting of the fiber.

The imprinting cylinder is heated and the fiber is pushed with a defined pressure into the structures. For a bigger imprinted surface, a patented process rotates the fibers around their axes. Mostly used are thermplastic monofilament fibers, e.g. PET, PA, PP and PMMA and bicomponent fibers of special design.

Application

• Optical effects by light diffraction
• Labeling from single fibers for the exact identification, e.g. for textiles
• Physical surface functionalization
  
  

Contact

Marcel Halbeisen
+41 58 765 78 67
marcel.halbeisen@empa.ch