Periodic Reporting for period 1 - XIMOFILM (The first ultra-low extractable silicone film release liner for electronics, silicone adhesive market and medical applications)
Reporting period: 2018-08-01 to 2018-11-30
Silicon pressure sensitive adhesives, Si-PSAs, are commonly used in several industrial sectors. They are particularly interesting for healthcare applications and medical devices because they have very good properties and provide a gentler action and less trauma on delicate skin or injured tissue. The corresponding release liners have to be compatible to these PSAs and alternatives (like fluorosilicones or non-silicone release liners) are expensive (around 2.75 €/m2) and include pollutant compound. Our objective is to produce an ultra-thin (0.01 μm) silicone layer with low concentration of remaining active bonds at lower price (2.0€/m2) by means of cold-plasma technology. We aim at producing this coating on industrial scale on different substrate at a rate up to 60 m2/min.
Med-XIMOFILM will be a step forward with respect to XIMOFILM, another ultra-thin silicone coating compatible with acrylic adhesives and with very interesting applications in electronics sector that will be commercialized in te forthcoming months. Our TRL6 prototype is a modification of the machine for XIMOFILM that works with argon instead of nitrogene plasma. Thanks to the H2020 SME Instrument Phase 1 program, in the last 4 months we have assessed the technical, commercial and financial viability of our novel technology. We have identified necessary technical tasks and have estimated a budget for a full development. We have identified potential end-users that we will contact to ask their suppliers (our customres) to include release liners with med-XIMOFILM. We have also identified risks and analysed competitors and competing technologies. We have drawn an effective commercial strategy. Sales forecasts show a profitable business even in a pessimistic scenario.
Med-XIMOFILM series leads to considerable savings and competitive advantages in very specific niches in comparison to current technologies. Avoiding the use of pollutant chemical compounds or reducing the energy used in production (in comparsiton to other coating techniques) will entail benefits for the environment. Increasing the life of adhesive components or labels during the stockage and facilitating tailored coating solutions will make some industrial processes more efficient. In summary this technology will lead to cheaper, less pollutant and better release liners.