United States.
A group of scientists from Pennsylvania State University developed a new self-healing coating technology for fabrics.
The team says that one day chemical protective suits made of coated fabric can warn farmers from exposure to organophosphate pesticides, soldiers from chemical or biological attacks in the field, and rabies workers from accidents from toxic materials leaks.
"Fashion designers use natural fibers made from proteins like wool or silk that are expensive and not self-healing," said Melik C. Demirel, a professor of engineering and mechanical sciences. "We were looking for a way to make the self-healing fabrics using conventional textiles. Then we came up with this coating technology."
The coating procedure:
- The material to be coated is immersed in a series of liquids
- This creates layers of a material to form a self-healing and polyelectrolyte coating layer by layer.
- This coating is deposited "in safe environmental conditions in solvents, such as water, at low cost using simple equipment susceptible to expansion."
Polyelectrolyte coatings are composed of positively and negatively charged polymers, in this case polymers such as those in squid ring tooth proteins.
During the application of the layers, enzymes can be incorporated into the coating. The researchers used urease — the enzyme that breaks down urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide — but in commercial use, the coating would be adapted with enzymes tailored to the chemical being targeted.
"If it is necessary to use enzymes for biological or chemical effects, it can cause an encapsulated enzyme with self-healing properties to degrade the toxin before it reaches the skin," Demirel said.
Finally the scientist said: "For manufacturing environments in hazardous chemicals are necessary, clothing coated with the right combination of the enzyme could prevent accidental leakage of chemicals. Future use of these coatings in medical meshes could also help patients minimize infections for rapid recovery."
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