Antiviral Finishing on Textiles - An Overview

Antiviral textiles are one of the most promising areas of protective textiles. Antiviral textiles are important in the field of health and hygiene. They become an essential part of our daily-life when a pandemic situation arises. The present paper critically analyses and summarizes various researches of the production of antiviral textiles. Different classes of the virus, how the virus transmits and replicates, various antiviral agents for textiles and their working mechanism, and the application procedure of various synthesized and bio-based antiviral compounds on textiles have been discussed in this paper. Finally, the present paper compares the existing antiviral finishing on textiles in terms of its effectiveness, durability and skin-friendliness and, following that, discusses the possibilities of using antiviral textiles in various sectors

Study of solutions to optimize the extraction of hemp fibers for composite materials

Fibres from hemp stems can be extracted through different mechanical processes following dew or water retting etc. Extraction processes generally have a significant impact on mechanical and morphological properties of the fibres. In this study, hemp fibres are extracted following three different ways. In the first route hemp fibres are extracted from FUTURA 75 variety stems by performing scutching, hackling and microwave degumming. A second batch of fibres of the same variety was extracted by scutching and hackling after an initial microwave degumming treatment. In the third route, the same variety of hemp fibres are extracted from dew retted stems grown at Piacenza (Italy). Finally, the mechanical properties of single fibres as well as the fineness of technical fibres of all types of extracted fibres are evaluated and compared and the interest of the microwave degumming for hemp stem is evaluated

Comparing flax and hemp fibres yield and mechanical properties after scutching/hackling processing

Increasing the production of high-performance natural fibres that minimise their impact on the environment is a challenge that flax (Linum usitatissinum L.) cannot address alone. In flax traditional production territories, hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) can be a complementary source of high added value fibres if their yield of long line fibres can be maximised to levels equivalent to the one of flax. The objective of the present work was to establish process parameters maximising the long line fibre yield using flax dedicated scutching and hackling devices. A lab-scale scutching/hackling device was used to establish sets of process parameters which best improve the long fibre scutching yield and as a consequence minimise the production of tow fibres. Decreases in straw processing transfer and beating speeds during scutching were necessary so that to be less aggressive on the straw and fibres. Very high long fibre yields were obtained after scutching and hackling at the laboratory scale (18 % of the hemp straw mass). These very high results, combined to high straw yield production in the field indicate that hemp can be a very productive source of high-performance fibres as these ones showed tensile properties completely suitable for a textile use as well as for load bearing composite materials. If the potential of high production yields and high mechanical and morphological properties was demonstrated at the lab-scale, this one should be improved at the industrial scale. Suggestions to reach this goal are provided to prevent too high transformation of long fibres into tows and to keep the mechanical potential maximum. When using optimised parameters and a lab-scale scutching/hackling device, it was demonstrated that hemp has the potential for providing equivalent amounts of long fibres per hectare than flax with tensile properties about 20 % lower than the ones of flax

Influence of composite architecture and interfacial bonding on their impact properties

Resistance to impact thrust is one of the most important requirement along with many others for defining suitable applications of any composite materials. In this present work, the influence of composite architecture and composite interfacial bonding strength on the impact performance of flax reinforced PP composites have been investigated. In this regard two different composite architecture through conventional film stacking method and through DREF (DR. E. Fehrer open-end friction spinning process) yarn consolidation method have been produced and to alter the fibre–matrix interfacial bonding the flax fibres are treated with MAgPP (Maleic Anhydride grafted Polypropylene). Finally, the notch Izod impact behaviour of all composite samples are evaluated and compare

Influence of industrial processing parameters on the effective properties of long aligned European hemp fibres in composite materials

International audienceHemp is a sustainable source of natural fibres that can contribute to meet the increasing demand for technical applications in the textile and the composite sectors. Continuous reinforcements can be produced using the existing flax machinery, initially developed fortextile purposes. To achieve competitive and economically viable fibre yields and a fibre quality suitable for secondary processing and composite application, hemp needs to be adequately selected and prepared and the flax machinery and settings have to be adapted to the hemp specificities. In this context, this paper studies the influence of agronomic features and processing stages and settings on the effective tensile properties of fibres extracted from two hemp varieties determined using impregnated fibre bundle tests. Results show that the effective properties of fibres are maintained and even improved during processing, in particular during the hackling and stretching steps. Hemp can achieve properties comparable to high quality long flax fibres