Aluminium-coated fibre from FibreCoat bags the Start-up-Booster award at JEC World 2022 in Paris

FibreCoat, a start-up business, demonstrated its success in coating individual basalt fibres with aluminium, making them versatile and cost-friendly. AluCoat from FibreCoat has reduced the cost of manufacture by a tenth when compared to other aluminium fibres already in use. With this feature, the Aachen-based business beat the stiff competition at JEC World 2022 in Paris' Start-up Booster Competition, winning the coveted prize on 4 May for "making high-performance materials accessible," as it was dubbed.

FibreCoat is a company that creates and sells high-performance fibre materials. The AluCoat aluminium basalt fibre is the first commercially available product. AluCoat is thermally and electrically conductive, as well as temperature resistant up to 600°C, unlike currently utilised conductive polymer yarns. AluCoat has the potential to become a much-needed and affordable electromagnetic shielding material for future electric cars and 5G devices.

Chopped fibres and yarns with up to 100 individual fibres, as well as woven and non-woven fabric, are all part of the product line. Material qualities may be accurately altered and tailored to individual requirements using factors such as coating thickness and core fibre diameter.

With lightweight, flexible textiles, the ground-breaking high-performance fibres open up possibilities for totally new applications. AluCoat expands the possibilities for smart textiles and electromagnetic shielding in cars and structures. From the 21st to the 24th of June 2022, the ‘AluCoat’ product range will be on display at the FibreCoat exhibit at Techtextil, the international trade expo for technical textiles and nonwovens in Frankfurt, Germany.

"Our innovative high-performance fibres not only improve existing products, they offer opportunities for completely new applications with lightweight, flexible fabrics. Alu Coat opens up new possibilities for smart textiles or electromagnetic shielding in vehicles or buildings,” said co-founder Robert Brüll.