Protective Clothing Based on Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes

Abstract

AbstractRecently, researchers have focused on the development of specialized protective clothing used to protect military personnel and emergency responders when they are at risk of exposure to chemical or biological threats such as toxic industrial chemicals or chemical or biological warfare agents. These breathable chemical and biological detoxifying protective fabrics with comparable comfort level containing peculiar membranes provide full barrier protection by absorbing or blocking toxic agents. Nanofibrous membranes, mainly fabricated by electrospinning, have exhibited great potential for many emerging applications including smart protective clothing. They can be considered as one of the safest nanomaterials due to their extremely long length (can be up to hundreds of kilometers) and their ability to be embedded within other media. The new generation of protective fabrics based on electrospun nanofibrous membranes is envisioned not only to absorb or block toxic chemical and biological agents but also to detoxify them to reduce the risk of secondary contamination. The aim of this chapter is to examine the use of electrospun nanofibers for developing protective clothing materials that could provide both good protection performance from various environmental hazards and thermal comfort for the users.KeywordsElectrospun FiberWater Vapor PermeabilityProtective ClothingNanofibrous MembraneCeO2 NanoparticlesThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.