Microbial (viruses, bacteria and fungi) protective personal clothing

ABSTRACT

This chapter highlights the new approaches to producing personal protective clothing (PPC) as antimicrobial fabrics such as gloves, gowns and face masks. Antimicrobial colorants, either natural or synthetic dyes, are widely employed in textile applications as bifunctional agents. This chapter also focuses on the potent nanometals (metal nanoparticles, MNPs) in the finishing process and their finishing techniques. Furthermore, many studies have reported on the antimicrobial activities of metal nanoparticles and dyes, however their antiviral activity has not been adequately investigated. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency of studying the antiviral potentiality of those agents in addition to their cytotoxicity and applicability. Moreover, there are many kinds of PPC according to their application that require different finishing techniques. This chapter provides a review of the applicability of antimicrobial and antiviral agents and the modern techniques used in textile finishing processes to achieve the highest antimicrobial and antiviral activities. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.