Textile Materials: Antimicrobial Properties and Medical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Clothing materials with large surface areas retain moisture, which provides a favorable environment for microbial growth, causing undesirable odors and even harmful effects. Cloths may contain certain types of microbes that interact with human skin microflora. With a doubling time of 20–30 min, the number of single bacteria cells can increase to 1 million cells in just 7 h.  Bacteria from contaminated clothes worn by patients and healthcare workers can easily be transmitted from one person to another. This issue is very serious in hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and any public environments or places that are prone to antibiotic-resistant microbes such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. This issue also affects workers involved in sewage treatment and sanitary activities. Even though some fabrics possess intrinsic antimicrobial properties, they may not be active against specific pathogenic microbes, so incorporating antimicrobial agents is necessary, resulting in antimicrobial textiles with a broad antimicrobial spectrum. Two ancient examples are the use of spices and herbal coatings on cloths to prepare mummy wraps in Egypt and the use of bamboo fibers in China with natural antibacterial and antifungal properties, namely 2–6-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone and dendrocin, a distinctive antifungal protein. Military fabrics are often treated with antimony salts, copper, and a mixture of chlorinated waxes to prevent microbial colonization.  Thus, there are significant research and commercial opportunities for developing functional textiles to protect against pathogens and viruses.

Antimicrobial textiles are tailored to kill microorganisms or inhibit their growth for diverse applications including healthcare, hygiene, medicine, households, and food packaging. This Special Issue calls for papers exploring the development and applications of different synthetic and natural antimicrobial compounds used to fabricate antimicrobial textiles. Such antimicrobial compounds must be proven non-toxic to consumers and cause no allergy, irritation, or sensitization. Studies focusing on the following topics are welcome:

(i) Nanoparticle-based coatings that are quite common and known, e.g., silver nanoparticles, which possess strong activity toward a broad range of microbes. The use of natural capping agents to prevent nanoparticle agglomeration is of interest. This Special Issue welcomes articles that cover specific and important applications of nanoparticles, as exemplified by the use of gold nanoparticles (~10 nm in size) with anti-viral activity against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19.

(ii) Natural compounds, such as flavonoids, quinones, tannins, curcumin, lignin, chitosan, natural polymers, etc., and their derivatives that have antimicrobial activities for specific applications.

(iii) The surface modification of textile materials, including processes such as plasma treatment, polymerization, microencapsulation, electrospinning, nanotechnology, and sol–gel techniques, to impart antibacterial activity and other functional properties, such as water-repellent, flame-retardant, and anti-UV activity. Examples include treating fabrics by introducing an N-halamine structure, halogenated phenols, or polycationic amines to eradicate bacterial cells. 

(iv) The use of plant and/or microbial pigments to dye cotton, silk, and other fabrics to impart antimicrobial activity.  

(v) Inorganic compounds, polymers, and biological components that prevent biofilm formation.

(vi) Bacterial resistance promoted by antimicrobial agents, their potential toxic breakdown products, and the consequent risks to human health and the environment.  

Prof. Dr. John H.T. Luong
Guest Editor

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• textile materials
• antimicrobial
• nanoparticles
• anti-viral
• antibacterial coating
• natural compounds with antibacterial activities
• surface modification of textile materials