In November 2017, the title of the International Symposium on
Materials from Renewables (ISMR) was “Advanced, Smart, and Sustainable Polymers, Fibers and Textiles”. Three specific sessions occurred under the denomination of “Smart Fibers and Textiles”. That
simple fact gives an idea of the importance of this work. However,
what really are smart textiles? In the foreword of the book edited by
Tao, X. [1], Lewis states clearly that these type of textiles are not only
special finished fabrics. The main defining idea of smart textiles is
related to the “active character” of them. Smart textiles “react to environmental stimuli, from mechanical, thermal, chemical, magnetic or
others”, including biotechnology, information technology, microelectronics, wearable computers, nanotechnology, and micromechanical
machines.
Biofunctional textiles are fibrous substrates that have been
modified to attain new properties and added value. The main idea
is to modify their parameters, especially related to comfort, adapting the tissues’ reaction to external or internal stimuli. Such textiles
constitute appropriate substrates to be used for the delivery of active
principles in cosmetic or pharmaceutical applications. Due to their
specific response, biofunctional textiles are especially useful when the
textile comes into close contact with the skin. As most of the human
body is covered with some sort of textile, the potential of this type
of textile is considerable. Textiles with functional properties used for
delivery to skin have been studied and patented [2,3].
Three cases will be explored in this work as examples of biofunctional systems obtained using vehicles to transport different active
principles to a textile substrate: Microcapsules, cyclodextrins, and
liposomes.Peer reviewe
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