13 - Ultraviolet protection finishing agents in textile functionalization

Abstract

It is well-known that ultraviolet (UV) radiation constitutes a very low fraction in the solar spectrum but vitally effects all living organisms and their metabolisms, while, exposure to such type of irradiations can cause dangerous effects, from simple tanning to the highly malignant skin cancers. In the last decade, considerable attention was focused on the exploitation of textile materials to be designed as protective clothing, especially, for blocking the harmful effects of UV irradiation, owing to the hazardous effects in increment of cancer and sunburn syndromes caused by long-term exposure to incident UV rays. In accordance to literature, most researching reports built their ideas on the barrier effects of fabrics for protection from UV radiation, therefore, such research focused on interchanging the physical aspects of fabrics, that is, color thickness, and woven structure. Also, the recent literature is focused on interchanging in the main construction of fabrics with impregnation of an appropriate light absorber with suitable finishing techniques so that the finished fabrics could be functionalized as UV protective textiles. This chapter deals with the hazardous effects of UV rays and protection with functionalization of textile materials. The current chapter represents an overview on the application of ultraviolet protection finishing agents in textile functionalization. In addition, UV protecting mechanisms of UV protection finishing on textile materials are described. The types of UV protection finishing reagents as organic and inorganic UV blockers were also represented.