Firefighters clothing

Around 1960 Carl Marvel at Illinois discovered that the reaction between 3,3, 4,4 -tetraaminobiphenyl (diaminobenzidine) (186) and diphenyl isophthalate yielded the strong, stable poly benzimidazoles. The thermal and chemical stability of their fibers make them suitable for parachutes, space suits and firefighting clothing. Several novel polymerizations were reported, including with 1,2,5,6-tetraaminoanthraquinones. 

Jin, L., Hong, K., Yoon, K., 2013. Effect of aerogel on thermal protective performance of firefighter clothing. J. Fiber Bioeng. Informat. 6, 315-324. 

The types of textile materials used in protective clothing are determined by the performance requirements of the clothing, which come from the analysis of the specific human-clothing-environment system. In this chapter, the application of high performance textile materials in the firefighters clothing, body armour and chemical protective clothing are reviewed, and the effects of the properties of those new materials on the overall performance of those PPE products will be briefly reviewed. 

Different types of protective clothing need to withstand attack from specific environmental hazards and thus require the constituent textile materials to have high performance in specific properties. For example, a body armour system requires the textile materials used to have superior mechanical properties firefighters clothing requires its component materials to have exceptional fire resistance properties and chemical protective clothing requires the materials to be resistant to the attacks of chemical agents. 

The MB is typically the middle layer between the OS and TL it is expected to prevent water, high temperature water vapour, chemicals and other pathogens from the environment passing through the firefighters clothing. It is usually a PTFE permeable film barrier laminated to a thin polyaramid woven or non-woven backing substrate. 

A summary of some commercially available MB materials used in firefighters clothing is shown in Table 3.7. 

Besides the high performance fibres used in the OS layer, flame-retardant-treated natural and regenerated fibres such as wool and cellu-losic fibres might also be used to make the thermal insulation liner. Some commercially available TL materials for firefighters clothing are shown in Table 3.8. 

Table 3.7 Examples of some commercially available MB materials for firefighters clothing 2-= =...

Table 3.8 Examples of some commercially available TL materials for firefighters clothing " ...

Halogen-containing fibres, such as modacrylic fibres (e.g., Saran fibres ), are also used as flame-retardant components in blends of fire protection equipment.i ° i i Modacrylic fibres are typically copolymers of vinyl chloride or vinylidene dichloride and acrylonitrile. However, while, modacrylic fibres are non-flammable and do not melt or drip, they shrink rapidly when exposed to fire, and thus are rarely used in firefighters clothing. 

Smart structure for both protection and thermal comfort of firefighter clothing... 

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