Functionalization of textiles

The functionalization of textiles plays an important role for household, clothing, and technical textiles. Surface functionalizations can create or enhance the following properties:

• Improvement of mechanical properties by coating a thin oxide film, which smooths the fiber surface and enhances abrasion resistance.
• Anti-adhesive, water- and dirt-repellent surfaces, with the ability to precisely control surface energy – from highly hydrophilic (high surface energy) to highly hydrophobic (anti-adhesive with low surface energy).
• Increase in light stability and color stability of dyes for creating colored textiles, with UV-protective properties.
• Sol-Gel immobilization of active substances and biomolecules to achieve the following functions:
  • photocatalytic activity
  • antimicrobial activity
  • therapeutic applications and controlled release of active ingredients
  • antistatic properties
  • biofunctionalization

In medical applications, anti-adhesive wound dressings (fluorine-free variants) can be produced. By precisely modifying the surface of the dressings, adhesion to the wound can be prevented, ensuring that the healing process is not disrupted during dressing changes. Alternatively, superhydrophilic coatings can be applied to maintain moisture on the damaged skin surface, thereby accelerating the wound healing process.

UV-protective textile coatings can be produced by loading nanosols with commercial UV absorbers, whereby standard textile finishing methods (e.g., padding) commonly used in the textile industry are well-suited for applying the nanosols. Bioactive nanosol coatings (e.g., incorporating collagen, chitosan, hyaluronic acid) can enhance the biocompatibility of fabrics and improve skin compatibility.

Antimicrobial coatings are produced using nanosols containing antimicrobial active ingredients. Various substances can be applied, including quaternary ammonium salts, phenol derivatives, polymeric biocides, and silver ion-releasing compounds (such as colloidal silver, silver salts, and silver complexes). For instance, silver salts can be thermally reduced on textile fibers to control the release of silver.

Therapeutic active substances (e.g., eucalyptol) can also be embedded in a Sol-Gel coating. The effects of the resulting textiles can be compared to those achieved by applying ointments directly to the skin.

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ANSPRECHPARTNER:
Dr. Helfried Haufe
Fachsektion Dresden – “Funktionelle Schichten”
Tel.: 0351 / 2695 344
E-Mail: dresden@gmbu.de