SympaTex
Encyclopedia
SympaTex is a type of fabric that is branded as waterproof with "breatheable" fabrics made or licenced by SympaTex Technologies GmbH. The fabric features a waterproof, windproof and breatheable membrane
Artificial membrane
An artificial membrane, or synthetic membrane, is a synthetically created membrane which is usually intended for separation purposes in laboratory or in industry. Synthetic membranes have been successfully used for small and large-scale industrial processes since the middle of twentieth century. A...

 that is laminate
Laminate
A laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more layers of material together. The process of creating a laminate is lamination, which in common parlance refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure, usually with an...

d to fabrics either on its inner surface or sandwiched between two fabric layers (often marketed as "3 layer laminate"). The latter system offers greater durability, by better protecting the integrity of the SympaTex layer from abrasion to both the outside and the inside of the garment.

Overview

The SympaTex membrane is made of hydrophilic polyether-ester block copolymer, which is closed (i.e. it has no pores). Like its more common polyurethane
Polyurethane
A polyurethane is any polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by carbamate links. Polyurethane polymers are formed through step-growth polymerization, by reacting a monomer with another monomer in the presence of a catalyst.Polyurethanes are...

 equivalent, it can also be referred to as a monolithic membrane. No water can get in from the outside, but water vapour molecules are transported through the membrane from the inside to the outside by way of an absorption and evaporation process. This moisture transfer through the membrane is what is referred to as "breatheability."

A closed membrane like SympaTex differs from microporous membranes (such as eVent
Event
Event can refer to many things such as:* An observable occurrence, phenomenon or an extraordinary occurrenceA type of gathering:* A ceremony, for example, a marriage* A competition, for example, a sports competition* A convention...

 or now discontinued Triplepoint Ceramic) which have microscopic pores that let air (and water vapour) pass through, yet have such low surface energy that the surface tension of any (liquid) water in contact remains too high to allow it to squeeze through the pores. Microporous membranes have traditionally been let down by the contamination of their pores which significantly degrades their breatheability and commonly also have poorer adhesion to fabrics making them more susceptible to delamination.

SympaTex's co-polymer consists of polyester
Polyester
Polyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...

 for molecular strength, and polyether to transport water molecules. The membrane weighs about 30g per average jacket. The membrane is at least 5 micrometres thick, translucent, and stretchable with good stretch recovery. The SympaTex membrane is completely recyclable and relatively environmentally friendly.

Fabrics

Sympatex Technologies GmbH now markets four enhanced fabrics: HigH2Out; Reflexion; Phaseable; and Airflow. It also offers 3 levels of membrane thickness for different levels of protection: Professional - heavy duty; Allweather - the standard thickness; and Windmaster - which is only 5 micrometre
Micrometre
A micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...

s thick.
  • HigH2Out has a more absorbent inner lining fabric in its 3 layer laminate, which over the standard SympaTex by a claimed 120%.
  • Reflexion contains a coating of aluminum a few nanometre
    Nanometre
    A nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre. The name combines the SI prefix nano- with the parent unit name metre .The nanometre is often used to express dimensions on the atomic scale: the diameter...

    s thick, sandwiched between its membrane and lining fabric, this reflects much of the radiated heat from the human body, to preserve the users warmth.
  • Phaseable, is described as 2.5 layers, lacking a lining fabric. Small foam dots sit on the exposed inner surface of the membrane. As temperature and humidity rises the membrane expands, spreading the dots apart to reduce their insulating effect and increase the membrane's surface area, and therefore increase its moisture transfer rate (its Ret rating).
  • Airflow is a laminate designed for footwear that uses a four layer lamination, with two outer layers, the inner of which consists of a knit spacer fabric, allowing airflow and better evaporation around the outside of the membrane.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK