Assessing antibacterial property, UV protection, and thermal comfort of nanosilver treated cotton and polyester knit fabrics for sportswear

Although many studies have validated the antibacterial property of nanosilver treated fabrics (e.g. Paladini, De Simone, Sannino, & Pollini, 2014), few has been done on the assessment of UV protection property and/or thermal comfort. No study has been found assessing thermal comfort of nanosilver treated fabrics with human, clothing, and environment all taken into consideration. Hence, the purpose of this study was to introduce a dynamic numerical thermal model to assess the thermal comfort of nanosilver treated knit fabrics for sportswear. The antibacterial property and UV protection of the nanosilver treated knit fabrics were also evaluated

An Investigation of cosmetic textiles in consumer products: the use of Vitamin E in hair wraps

The application of cosmetic substances such as: Vitamin E, Shea butter or Olive Oil on textile materials have varied. The goal of cosmetic textiles is to transfer substances such as these directly to the skin or scalp, therefore the efficacy of the method is of utmost importance. Consumers want a lasting, effective product. A consumer of cosmetic textiles wants to know that fiber properties are inherent in their garment or textile, and that they last (Nelson, 2002). Shea Butter and Olive Oil are two of the most sought after natural ingredients in the world. But how would consumers know that: 1) these ingredients have really been applied to these products? 2) product use will yield the stated results? The purpose of this study is to investigate the ingredients of the Qfitt Double Mesh Wrap product, to confirm that the natural ingredients cited on the packaging are present in measurable amounts

Testing Chinese Ink as a Natural Dyestuff on Silk and Cotton Fabrics: The Foundation for a Collection of Wearable Art

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of using BC nonwoven as textile fabrics to make consumer products. The objectives were: 1) to study the influences of fermentation conditions on the production of BC fabric; 2) to investigate the physical and mechanical properties of BC nonwovens (thickness, weight, tensile strength, tearing strength, and stiffness); and 3) to study the possibility of producing inherently colored BC nonwovens

Structure and Properties of Polyamide Fabrics with Insect-Repellent Functionality by Electrospinning and Oxygen Plasma-Treated Surface Coating

The need for light-weight and high-strength insect-repellant fabrics is of critical importance to the cessation of viral diseases. The goal of the study is to investigate the structure and properties of insect-repellent polyamide fabrics for use in protective garments to guard against mosquitos. Permethrin was applied to the polyamide fabrics through incorporation into the nylon 6 polymer solution during electrospinning and dip coating onto the control untreated and oxygen plasma-treated polyamide fabrics: electropun nylon 6 nanofiber nonwovens, commercially available nylon 6 warp knit tricot, and nylon 66 double weft, knit interlock fabrics. The incorporation of permethrin into the polymer solution before the formation of fibers demonstrated the most efficient way to apply permethrin to the fiber/fabric systems. The plasma treatment significantly increased the amount of permethrin on the surface of the fabrics. All permethrin-containing polyamide fabrics showed excellent fastness of the insecticide to light. The electrospun nylon 6 nonwovens demonstrated the best fastness to washing among the plasma-treated electrospun nylon 6, nylon 66 double weft knit, and nylon 6 warp-knit tricot. All permethrin-treated fabrics were repellent and caused higher percentage of mosquito escape compared to the control untreated fabrics

Chemical protective clothing comfort study: thermal insulation and evaporative resistance from fabric to garment

The relationship between the Rct and Ret of textile material used in CPC and that obtained from CPC garment was investigated. It was found that the Rct and Ret of CPC fabric are reliable predictor for the Rct and Ret of CPC garments respectively. Air gap contributes significantly to the increase of the Rct of CPC garments and fabrics. Heat dissipation by water vapor transfer through CPC is a complex process and different from other kinds of clothing due to its low permeability or impermeability. Further studies on the influential factors of Ret of CPC garments are needed

Analysis of heat stress associated with wearing chemical protective clothing using a numerical model

A numerical model was applied to evaluate heat stress under different thermal environmental conditions, activity intensities, and the effect of movement status on clothing properties when wearing a typical CPC. It was concluded that the ambient temperature and metabolic rate is strongly associated with heat stress and reduced the tolerance time. Although the manikin movement greatly affected the thermal insulation and evaporative resistance of CPC, the effects of movement on heat stress can be neglected

Thermal protective performance of membrane material used in protective clothing against hot water and steam

The aim of the research was to examine the effect of configuration and basic properties of membrane material on thermal protective performance against hot liquid and steam. The configuration and position of membrane material presented a significant effect on protective performance of fabric systems exposed to hot water and steam. Membrane material should be treated as outer layer to resist the penetration of hot water and steam into fabric system. A small amount of penetrating water and steam should be absorbed by the inner-layer fabric with the thicker and larger moisture regain to enhance the protective performance

Numerical model of heat and moisture transfer in membrane material used for protective clothing against steam hazard

A numerical model of heat and moisture transport in membrane material under steam hazard was developed and agreed well with experimental results. This model was employed to explore the mechanism of heat and moisture transfer in membrane material. Additionally, the effect of membrane material properties and exposure conditions on thermal protective performance of protective clothing was analyzed based on the developed model

Antenna Array Design for LOS-MIMO and Gigabit Ethernet Switch-Based Gbps Radio System

The high spectrum efficiency of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission traditionally depends on the high multiplexing gain in rich scattering environments, which will not always hold in the line-of-sight (LOS) environments, especially at higher microwave frequency band. In this paper, a novel antenna array design rule is proposed to guarantee full multiplexing gain for LOS-MIMO systems with one- or two-dimensional antenna arrays in LOS scenarios, and the strict perpendicular constraint is released in the two-dimensional case. The minimum antenna array area and the performance sensitivity to the area error are also obtained to guide the practical system design. Then, a demo MIMO-OFDM system with the designed square antenna array at 15 GHz carrier is implemented on a novel Gigabit Ethernet (GE) switch-based software defined radio (SDR) platform, which combines the hardware accelerating units (HAUs) with the general-purpose processors (GPPs). The field evaluation results show that the system throughput and spectrum efficiency are greater than 1 Gbps and 15 bps/Hz, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to demonstrate the Gbps LOS-MIMO-OFDM system at such microwave bands in the world, which can be a successful design example for the next generation wireless backhaul or fixed wireless access