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Protective Clothing Based on Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes

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Electrospun Nanofibers for Energy and Environmental Applications

Part of the book series: Nanostructure Science and Technology ((NST))

Abstract

Recently, 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.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2011CB606103, and 2012CB525005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51322304, 51173022, U1232116, and 51273038), the Shanghai Nano Special Projects (11 nm0502900), the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology (No. 12JC1400101), the Huo Yingdong Foundation (131070), and the Program for New Century Talents of the University in China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Aikifa Raza, Yang Li, Jianyong Yu & Bin Ding

  2. Nanomaterials Research Center, Modern Textile Institute, Donghua University, Shanghai, 200051, China

    Junlu Sheng, Jianyong Yu & Bin Ding

Authors
  1. Aikifa Raza
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  2. Yang Li
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  3. Junlu Sheng
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  4. Jianyong Yu
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  5. Bin Ding
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Correspondence to Bin Ding .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, China

    Bin Ding

  2. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University, Shanghai, China

    Jianyong Yu

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Raza, A., Li, Y., Sheng, J., Yu, J., Ding, B. (2014). Protective Clothing Based on Electrospun Nanofibrous Membranes. In: Ding, B., Yu, J. (eds) Electrospun Nanofibers for Energy and Environmental Applications. Nanostructure Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54160-5_14

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