Porton Plasma Innovations Ltd

Porton Plasma Innovations Limited (P2i) was established in 2004 as a spin-out from Dstl, the UK Ministry of Defence’s research laboratories (www.dstl.gov.uk). P2i is set up as a joint venture between Dstl and Porton Capital, a leading investor in civilian applications of defence research (www.portoncapital.com). P2i’s plasma enhancement technology originates from six years of Dstl-sponsored research, both in-house and at the University of Durham, into how to make soldiers’ protective clothing more effective against chemical attack. Current protective suits are heavy and cumbersome and can lead to excessive heat stress. In addition, seams and zips need separate and costly protection from liquid ingress. The solution is to plasma enhance entire, finished garments using Dstl’s patented process so that even the zips are made highly liquid-repellent. P2i is the sole licensee of Dstl’s technology and is now commercialising the technology for the textile, medical, biosciences, electronics and homeland security markets.