Grants and Contributions

Eureka Cluster SMART – S08-40 – EcoSpinPlasma, in collaboration with Inovenso (Turkey). The Firm is developing a new generation of PFAS-free, breathable, and oil- and water-repellent textile coatings using atmospheric pressure plasma. These durable water-repellent coatings aim to replace harmful fluorochemicals, aligning with global regulations and demand for sustainable materials. The Firm will integrate its coatings with nanofiber membranes made via electrospinning to create advanced outerwear fabrics that balance protection, comfort, and sustainability.

The Firm is developing a scalable, roll-to-roll machine that integrates electrospinning and atmospheric PECVD to produce PFAS-free, breathable, and oil-repellent membranes for protective textiles and energy applications. The project will enable the production of next-generation multilayer fabrics by combining nanofiber membranes with plasma-coated fabrics through lamination. By project end, the Firm will deploy industrial electrospinning and PECVD machines and establish lamination capacity. The solution supports the global phase-out of PFAS, reducing environmental impact and advancing cleantech leadership.

Acquisition of equipment: The project aims to increase the production capacity of a company that specialises in the design and manufacturing of nanofibre membranes.

The project aims to implement a comprehensive marketing strategy for innovative nanofiber roll materials designed for air filter applications. This project aims to enhance market penetration and customer outreach, leveraging the unique properties of PFAS-free nanofiber filters to address increasing environmental and health concerns.

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Transport Canada (TC) are seeking retrofit solutions that reduce airborne hazards and improve air quality within the enclosed spaces encountered by bus and rail travelers in order to improve the resilience to airborne infectious diseases. The two primary interests are protecting passengers and drivers. Protecting passengers on long-range transportation where wearing a mask is not practical; and protecting drivers of all ground public transportation environments are of particular interest in this call.

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC), in collaboration with Health Canada (HC) and Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), is seeking solutions to develop and manufacture disposable transparent medical masks to be used by deaf and hard of hearing healthcare workers and patients to protect from transfer of body fluids, microorganisms and particulate material. The transparent masks shall facilitate full facial recognition and lip/speech reading alongside other communication methods.

The ground transportation industry has experienced a steep decline in traffic as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadians feel less safe travelling in mass transportation environments given the uncertainty surrounding the risk of contracting COVID-19 and future viruses in these spaces. The NRC and TC seeks to challenge the Canadian industry to develop solutions that can be used in existing federal, provincial, and municipal buses and trains to protect onboard occupants by mitigating the airborne viral risks while restoring confidence in transportation. 

It has become clear during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic that the standard opaque medical masks pose a challenge for effective communication in healthcare settings, especially for deaf and hard of hearing people and other individuals who rely on visual cues or lip/speech reading. The availability of a transparent version of a medical mask would facilitate communication of these individuals.