Pegas Nonwovens s.r.o., a subsidiary of Pegas Nonwovens SA, has launched testing equipment for the plasma treatment of nonwoven textiles in Dvur Králové nad Labem, Czech Republic. The testing equipment is part of an R&D project focused on the treatment of next-generation nonwoven textiles using atmospheric plasma, which was announced by the company last spring.

Pegas is running the project in cooperation with the Institute of the Physical Electronics associated with the Faculty of Natural Science of the Masaryk University in Brno and Inotex s.r.o., based in Dvur Králové nad Labem, where the equipment is located.

The testing equipment will be used to treat nonwoven textiles using atmospheric plasma discharge. It consists of a nonwoven textile unwinding unit, a plasma unit, equipment for liquid chemical application, a drying and a winding machine.
   
The installed equipment will introduce in-line nonwovens testing with the aim of verifying the impact of plasma treatment on fiber surface properties in nonwoven textiles and potentially achieve permanent chemical action through the fixation of active particles on the fiber surface. In addition, the equipment may enable research into the interaction of the plasma pre-treatment and of subsequent applications, which may potentially also include nano-treatment.
   
The project is being funded by a financial grant from the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade. The planned project budget is up to CZK 70 million during the 2008–2011 period and the total size of the grant may reach up to CZK 25 million.