Fibroline of Ecully, France, has signed a strategic partnership agreement with compatriot and manufacturer of such products, Euro Wipes of Nogent-le-Rotrou.
The partners will use dry-powder impregnation to produce cleansing and disinfecting pads, wipes and cosmetic sheet masks. Since the process eliminates the need for solvents and water, Fibroline says that the products will be more environmentally friendly than conventional alternatives and the locations of the active ingredients they contain can be tailored to the needs of a given application. Further, the partners plan to develop products that would not be possible using conventional manufacturing processes.
In the basic configuration of Fibroline's process(1) (called D-Preg), a scattering unit deposits dry powder onto a porous substrate travelling below. The substrate and powder then pass between two electrode plates, which are connected to a low-current, high-voltage generator that produces an alternating electrical field in the intervening space. The alternating field first electrically charges the dry particles in the powder and then attracts them, pulling them into the substrate. Fibroline says that no heat is required and there is no rise in temperature during processing, which takes place at room temperature.
By adjusting various parameters within the set-up, such as the voltage across or the distance between the electrodes, Fibroline says its can precisely control the degree of penetration of the powder, as well as its distribution. The charged particles naturally repel one another, because they carry the same polarity, and this helps to distribute the powder uniformly. However, it is also possible to cause the particles to arrange themselves in a gradient through the thickness of the substrate; for instance, by increasing the density of the substrate through the thickness to reduce the penetration.