Fiber Technology

What does Filtrona Porous Technologies produce with bonded fiber?

Filtrona Porous Technologies develops and manufactures bonded fiber component products that are custom, fiber-based, three dimensional in form, and constructed to handle or manipulate liquids or vapors at the microliter or milliliter scale.

The substance of our components is fibrous in nature and represented by a broad range of synthetic polymers, often treated for functional purposes with surface energy manipulating coatings and bonded through proprietary processes. In many instances Filtrona Porous Technologies employs in-house fiber processing and development to ensure a stringent standard of component uniformity and consistency within lots and lot-to-lot.

Filtrona Porous Technologies has the capability to customize the geometric shape of its components to virtually any cross-section. This product flexibility permits integration of the component into various device forms, providing customers with added liberty to design the end-use product devices they require. Profile shapes are currently provided in a variety of cross-sections from less than 1 mm to over 150 mm across major axes. As all dimensions are held to unusually close tolerances for fiber structures, Filtrona Porous Technologies' products are ideally suited for use in high speed automatic assembly operations.

All Filtrona Porous Technologies' bonded fiber components are custom designed and manufactured to meet the functional requirements of our customers’ products. Filtrona Porous Technologies sales engineers work directly with customer research and development and other technical personnel to define performance characteristics and then apply our fiber and processing capabilities.


Product Examples & Terms

Reservoirs

Filtrona Porous Technologies' bonded fiber reservoir products are used as ink reservoirs for writing instruments, inkjet printer cartridges, stamping and inking pads, and other similar pigment applications. In medical diagnostic devices, our reservoirs control and manage liquid flow rates through instrument test and analysis zones. In cleaning and personal care product applications, our reservoirs contain and control the delivery of cleaning chemistry formulations, cleaning or detergent concentrates, color cosmetic pigments and mixtures, and other cleaning or personal care solutions or lotions.

Capillary Transfer Components and Wicks

Filtrona Porous Technologies' wicking components control the flow rates of liquids within consumer and industrial devices. Fluid transfer or flow can be modified or enhanced with liquid treatment or conversion of the component, via impregnation or overlay of functional chemical modifiers, to selectively add, remove, or otherwise manipulate properties of the liquid. Wicking rates and volumes are fully customizable.

Filtrona Porous Technologies' supplies component products for many wicking or fluid transfer applications including air fresheners, inkjet cartridge wicks, and butane lighter wicks. In medical diagnostic devices, our wicks transfer liquids and reagents to the test sites often located within lateral flow diagnostic assay devices.

Filters / Pre-Filters

As filters, Filtrona Porous Technologies' bonded fibers may be engineered to form a depth filter, used in applications including home heating oil filters, laboratory pipette tip filters to remove aerosol contaminants, blood filters, automotive filtration, niche water filtration markets, and other medium-to-low flow rate air and liquid filters.

Benefits & Advantages of Using Fiber

Capillary Science and Technology Flexibility

Capillary action is the basis for many of the performance features and product functions of bonded fiber products. Employing a variety of polymer and fiber types, Filtrona Porous Technologies controls the nature of the fiber components via an in-depth knowledge of the properties of the fibers and materials selected, the bonding nature of the process employed, its impact on the component pore structure, and the surface tension, viscosity, specific gravity, and solvency nature of the liquids involved.

Process, Polymer Choice and Customized Chemistry

Filtrona Porous Technologies has developed a range of fiber bonding processes that affects the performance of its components. The composition and polymer type of the fiber component structure as well as the nature of the component matrix (such as fiber diameter, or quantity of fibers) also influence the capture of fluids and all subsequent functionality, whether prolonged liquid retention or controlled release. Pursuant to the demands of the product and market application, and depending on the bonding process used, the flow path of the Fiber Technology component may vary from near-liner flow to a tortuous path transfer. Filtrona Porous Technologies also has the ability to chemically tailor the performance of its components with various surface energy manipulators. Coatings, powders, surface additives, and other modifiers can be impregnated directly within the fiber structure or applied to each individual fiber.

Controlled Variables

Filtrona Porous Technologies controls all of these variables and more to achieve specific functional properties with its bonded fiber component products:

Incorporation of Color & Color Change to Component Functionality

Filtrona Porous Technologies has the technical capability to impart to its bonded fiber components visual identification or visual functionality via the use of color. Filtrona Porous Technologies can engineer colored components to help meet the aesthetic demands of a specific product market. A wide variety of colors are available, as noted in the above picture.

Filtrona Porous Technologies also features fiber component technology whereby a change in color is employed to demonstrate a specific status or condition within a specific application. Functional color change currently may be used to denote a component's change in state, for example a wet state to a dry state or vice versa, as well as to signify a component's end of life, for example a 'full' state to an 'empty' state of a specific device or liquid holding component. A third possible application includes the utilization of color to identify the presence of a particular substance. This application remains in development at Filtrona Porous Technologies.

• Color Change in State: color signifying a change from wet to dry
• Color Change End of Life: color signifying a component or device is empty and must be replaced
• Color Change Substance Identification: color signifying a component revealing the presence of a substance

Filtrona Porous Technologies has recently developed a color change wick, TRANSORB SmartWick, for use in air freshener and fragrance applications that follow specific protocols.

Filtrona Porous Technologies will work with you to develop a color change solution that best suits your business needs. Our real value is helping you create something new and unique to differentiate your business from the rest of the market.