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Multifunctional and Protective Textiles

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Smart Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2022) | Viewed by 4488

Special Issue Editors

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University of West Attica, GR-12244 Athens, Greece
Interests: electronics; multifunctional materials; textiles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
ENSAIT Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles, Roubaix, France
Interests: materials chemistry; polymers; nanomaterials; material characterization; textile engineering; technical textiles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of West Attica, 12244 Athens, Greece
Interests: antennas and propagation; microwaves; pattern recognition; optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Textiles is a fascinating field, a crossroad of many disciplines. Although it is one of the most ancient engineering fields, today it appears very modern because of its fertilization through multidisciplinary practices. As a result, new textile materials, new textile products, and new textile processes are being developed and offered to the world. In this sense, this Special Issue focusing on the multifunctional and protective textiles holds great importance for the tracing and promotion of modern textile science. Multifunctional materials in the textile field have a great impact in applications and strongly affect the world of wearables and smart textile products. More specifically, protective textiles refer to a very important and high added value application field, because every development has a potential contribution to the reduction of injuries and life losses.

We invite original papers reporting the newest developments in this area. We encourage researchers to communicate their work, either application-oriented, fundamental, or of combined character. We expect that this Special Issue will collect and present the most modern research results. Additionally, we anticipate that it will ignite new research activities and inspire more scientists to strengthen the research force in multifunctional and protective textiles.

The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

  • Multifunctional textile materials and structures;
  • Protective textile materials;
  • Structures and products;
  • Wearables;
  • E-textiles;
  • Smart textiles;
  • Connectivity;
  • Energy harvesting.

The Assistant Editors of this special issue are Mr. Aris Reppoulias and Dr. Dimitra Matsouka.

Prof. Dr. Savvas Vassiliadis
Dr. Francois Rault
Dr. Stelios A. Mitilineos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • multifunctional textiles
  • protective textiles
  • e-textiles
  • smart textiles

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 15329 KiB  
Article
Filtering Efficiency of Sustainable Textile Materials Applied in Personal Protective Face Mask Production during Pandemic
by Attila Géczy, Gergő Havellant, Réka Bátorfi, Agata Skwarek, Karel Dušek, David Bušek and Balázs Illés
Materials 2023, 16(3), 903; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma16030903 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1353
Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak increased demand for personal protective respirator masks. Textile masks based on cloth materials appeared to be a sustainable, comfortable, and cost-effective alternative available in global communities. In this study, we used laser-based particle counting for mask material qualification to determine [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 outbreak increased demand for personal protective respirator masks. Textile masks based on cloth materials appeared to be a sustainable, comfortable, and cost-effective alternative available in global communities. In this study, we used laser-based particle counting for mask material qualification to determine the concentration filtering efficiency in general, everyday community use. The efficiencies of eleven different commercially available textile materials were measured in single-, double-, and triple-layer configurations according to their grammage, mesh (XY), and inter-yarn gap. It was found that in the single-layer configurations, most materials were well below the acceptable standards, with a wide variation in filtering efficiency, which ranged from 5% to ~50%. However, when testing the fabrics in two or three layers, the efficiency increased significantly, exceeding or approaching the standard for medical masks. Three layers of natural silk was able to produce a level of filtration efficiency of 84.68%. Two-layered natural silk achieved 70.98%, cotton twill achieved 75.6%, and satin-weave viscose achieved 69.77%. Further options can also be considered in cases where lower filtration is acceptable It was statistically shown that applying a second layer was more significant in terms of overall filtering than increasing the layer count to three. However, layer stacking limited the breathability. The paper presents measurement-based qualitative and quantitative recommendations for future textile applications in face mask manufacturing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional and Protective Textiles)
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9 pages, 3328 KiB  
Article
Bioburden Variation of Filtering Face Piece Respirators over Time: A Preliminary Study
by Vittorio Checchi, Marco Montevecchi, Leoluca Valeriani and Luigi Checchi
Materials 2022, 15(24), 8790; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15248790 - 09 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1025
Abstract
Background: The microbial contamination of a respirator can be evaluated through a count of the number of bacteria living on a non-sterilized surface (bioburden). This preliminary study investigated the external contamination of two different FFP2s over time by studying the bioburden values in [...] Read more.
Background: The microbial contamination of a respirator can be evaluated through a count of the number of bacteria living on a non-sterilized surface (bioburden). This preliminary study investigated the external contamination of two different FFP2s over time by studying the bioburden values in increasing exposure times. Methods: FFP2 respirators of two different brands were used during routine clinical settings and examined through the bioburden test; for each brand, three devices were tested at 8, 16, and 30 h. Results: No significant differences were observed between mask brands (p = 0.113). There were only significant CFU differences between each mask and its control (p = 0.027 and p = 0.004). Conclusions: Both brands of respirators were found to be contaminated and this contamination increased with the increase in exposure time. Further studies are needed to investigate the exact amount of contamination that could be considered acceptable before discarding each used mask. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional and Protective Textiles)
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15 pages, 11113 KiB  
Article
Prolonged Use of Surgical Masks and Respirators Affects the Protection and Comfort for Healthcare Workers
by Xiaoning Guan, Jing Lin, Jiaxiang Han, Xiaodong Gao, Ying Zhang, Bijie Hu, Robert Guidoin and Lu Wang
Materials 2022, 15(22), 7918; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ma15227918 - 09 Nov 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1486
Abstract
This study explored the ideal period for wearing masks to prevent the physiological and psychological problems associated with long-term face mask use during respiratory infections by healthcare workers. Breathing simulators, surgical masks (SM) and medical respirators (PM) were prepared for two to eight [...] Read more.
This study explored the ideal period for wearing masks to prevent the physiological and psychological problems associated with long-term face mask use during respiratory infections by healthcare workers. Breathing simulators, surgical masks (SM) and medical respirators (PM) were prepared for two to eight hours. Changes in the comfort of masks (facial skin temperature, breathing resistance, and moisture permeability) and protection (filtration efficiency, resistance to blood penetration, and colony count) were assessed. The results demonstrated that the masks offered efficient liquid-particle filtering even after eight hours of use. However, the number of bacterial colonies using PM and SM grew significantly after two and four hours, respectively. Concerning comfort, the inspiratory resistance of masks rose dramatically after two hours, whereas the moisture permeability declined considerably after four hours. In addition, skin temperature had a significant increase within two hours, which may result in facial discomfort. When conditions permitted, the hospital staff was instructed to replace their masks every two hours. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Multifunctional and Protective Textiles)
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