Nanocomposites of Electrospun Polymeric Materials As Protective Textiles Against Chemical and Biological Hazards

Abstract

Chemical and biological agents effects tissues and organs which cause poisoning, disease, and deterioration. Chemical or biological weapons show significant threats to humankind. Therefore, many studies have presented approaches for protection from biological and chemical agents. There are various types of defence equipments to protect a body from those agents such as developed detectors, protective clothing materials, functional decontaminants, and others. A number of studies have reported about protective clothing against chemical and biological agents, because many of them are dermally active. New protective clothing materials (comfortable, adsorptive, light-weight) combined with active detoxifying/decontaminating nanomaterials have been produced recently. Electrospinning is one of the simplest and most versatile methods to fabricate nanofibers with high surface areas. Electrospun polymeric nanofibers were used as a protective barrier on the textile fabrics. Attempts have been made to incorporate nanoparticles, nanotubes and antimicrobials into electrospun fibers to enhance their functionality. In this contribution, a selection of studies about the use of electrospun nanofibers for protective clothing against chemical and biological agents is summarized.