AW08 sports shoe range to feature space-age ion-mask™ plasma enhancement 

Major high street sports shoe brand Hi-Tec is set to launch a range of footwear with a combination of breathability and performance protection never before seen on the high street. The new range will feature ion-mask™ enhancement, a revolutionary plasma treatment originally developed to protect soldiers from chemical attack and patented by Oxford UK-based P2i Ltd.

ion-mask™ applies a protective layer, just nanometres thick, over the entire surface of the shoe by means of an ionised gas or “plasma”, not only nano-coating the external surfaces of the shoe but also the inside, between and around the individual fibres in the shoe, making it particularly effective on shoes containing synthetic materials. Extensive evaluation at the three leading footwear test houses has already confirmed the treatment offers unprecedented levels of super-hydrophobicity and breathability.

“For years the industry has been looking for a way to make sports shoes non water-absorbent and truly breathable but without adding weight - and this is it,” explains
Hi-Tec’s Global Brand President, Tony Linford. “ion-mask™ will first appear on a lightweight, waterproof shoe for AW08 and other designs will follow soon after.” 

“We’re delighted that ion-mask™ is debuting on such a high profile brand”, says P2i Ltd’s Business Development Director, Dr Ian Robins. The treatment is already well known in industrial applications such as laboratory disposables and filtration media
but this is the first time the public will be able to see what all the fuss is about!”    

Invisible to the naked eye, ion-mask™ allows the foot to truly breathe but stops water seeping through the sides of the shoe; bouncing off the surface instead like beads of mercury.  Unlike conventional waterproof treatments that require additional layers to
be sewn into the shoe during manufacture, which add weight and can result in poor fit
of the shoe, ion-mask™ is applied after the shoe has been manufactured and does not compromise the fit or weight of the shoe.  Furthermore, the process treats all materials within the shoe at once nano-coating synthetic materials as well as leathers.

Conventional footwear requires the addition of membrane technology in conjunction with taped seams and a durable water repellent (DWR) in order to display highly water resistant properties.  P2i’s ion-mask™ enhancement process can take an ordinary shoe off the end of the manufacturing line or retail outlet shelf that would normally fail the shoe flex test and render it water resistant.  The technology can be used as a novel non-tape seam sealer and displays excellent abrasion resistance.