Conclusions functional textiles for protection, filtration and other applications

Conclusions functional textiles for protection, filtration and other applications 

Any number of different textile fibers and fabrics could possibly be used as substrates for the electrostatic self-assembly of nanolayers as far as they could hold charges on their surfaces. Possible candidates include polyamides as well as hemp, silk and many others. 

Several papers have been published recently detailing new methods of LbL assembly, highlighting reduced deposition times and improved layer uniformity. For example, Kim et al. devised a new technique for LbL deposition called dynamic LbL assembly. This process makes use of the basic LbL deposition process and fluidic devices to create well-defined multilayer polyelectrolyte films that can be quickly and easily fabricated on a specific 

Parcel et al. developed a novel method that simultaneously sprays polyanion and polycation solutions onto a vertically oriented charged surface. This process creates a uniform film that grows with time. The vertical position leads to continuous drainage and helps removing any material that is not fixed on the surface of the outermost layer. This deposition technique, much like the conventional technique, does not include a drying step allowing for a continuous removal of any excess materials and improving the uniformity of the film.126 

The ESA deposition process has been used to deposit alternate nanolayers of PSS and PAH on substrates of cotton and wool fabric. Treatment of the samples with 2,3-epoxypropyltrimethylammonium chloride was proven to be an effective procedure to create a substrate able to support multilayer thin films. XPS and TEM provided direct and indirect evidence of the efficacy of the deposition process. In addition, quantitative agreement of the XPS data with previously published data using several synthetic substrates corroborates that the LbL deposition process can be used as a method for the modification of textile fibers and fabrics. The experimental results also show that ESA is more dependent on the nature of the polyelectrolytes than that of the original substrate. 

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