An Update on Nanomaterials‐Based Textiles for Protection and Decontamination

Abstract

Protective clothing currently used against chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents use activated charcoal impregnated with metal ions, which serve to physically adsorb nerve and blister agents thereby creating disposal hazards after its usage. Nanotechnology is booming in an unprecedented way in creating its impact in various applications such as in catalysis. Metal oxide nanoparticles (MONPs) such as TiO2 and MgO are currently used as potential catalysts for the decontamination of CBW agents. Various synthetic routes adopted for the preparation of MONPs are highlighted in this review. When compared with conventionally‐prepared samples, aerogel‐prepared samples are more reactive toward toxic chemicals and their ability to degrade CBW is presented here. TiO2 photocatalysts in the presence of UV light and mixed metal oxides are found to be efficient catalysts when compared with individual oxides. The recent trend of exploiting nanoparticles and the high aspect ratio ceramic oxide nanofibers for use in protective clothing, wipe materials, and textiles has been presented. Some of the issues concerning integration of metal oxides into fabrics for sensors are also reviewed in this article.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extract of medicinally potent plant Saraca indica: a novel study

“…The biological effectiveness and value of nanoparticles increase proportionally with an increase in the specific surface area which is due to the increase in their surface energy and catalytic reactivity and also due to changes in physical, mechanical, optical and electromagnetic properties (Pradeep and Anshup 2009;Choi et al 2007;Reddy et al 2008;Okuda et al 2005;Lala et al 2007). Nanoparticles are synthesized using different methods and more routinely used chemical methods (Sundarrajan et al 2010;Thakkar et al 2010). However, chemical methods cannot avoid the use of toxic chemicals in the synthesis protocol.…”

Electrospun MgO/Nylon 6 Hybrid Nanofibers for Protective Clothing

“…Nanometal oxides incorporated into textile fabrics can improve their multifunctional properties such as flame retardancy, UV protection, self-cleaning, antistatic and antimicrobial activities [3]. Although polymeric materials used in textile fabrics can enhance their functional properties, polymeric nanofibers were used as a protective barrier on the textile fabrics for many applications such as wound dressing, air filteration, tissue scaffold, sensors, and fire retardancy [4][5][6][7].…”

“…Electrospinning is one of the simplest and most versatile methods to fabricate nanofibers with high specific surface area (SSA) and high porosity [5]. The electrospun nanofibers with superior properties were obtained by controlling the diameter (100-1000 nm) and distribution of the fibers [4,5]. The complex architectures, for example, core-shell, porous and hollow structures, were formed through incorporation of nanoparticles into fibers and polymer blends [8][9][10][11].…”

Phytosynthesis and Characterisation of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesised from Flower Extract of Roheda (Tecomella undulata G. Don)

“…Furthermore, synthesised nanoparticles may be unstable and tend to agglomerate rapidly and become useless unless capping agents are applied for stabilisation. Different shapes and sizes of nanoparticles are produced through UV irradiation 3 , microwave irradiation 4 , chemical reduction 5 , electron irradiation 6 , photochemical 7 and lithography methods 8 . However most of the methods involve more than one step, requirement of high energy, difficulty in purification and presence of hazardous chemicals 9 .…”