A technical review of face mask wearing in preventing respiratory COVID-19 transmission

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries have recommended their citizens to adopt social distance, hand hygiene, and face mask wearing. However, wearing face masks has not been well adopted by many citizens. While the reasons are complex, there is a general perception that the evidence to support face mask wearing is lacking, especially for the general public in a community setting. Face mask wearing can block or filter airborne virus-carrying particles through the working of colloid and interface science. This paper assesses current knowledge behind the design and functioning of face masks by reviewing the selection of materials, mask specifications, relevant laboratory tests, and respiratory virus transmission trials, with an overview of future development of reusable masks for the general public. This review highlights the effectiveness of face mask wearing in the prevention of COVID-19 infection.     

Optimisation of fault-tolerant fabric-cutting schedules using genetic algorithms and fuzzy set theory

In apparel industry, manufacturers developed standard allowed minutes (SAMs) databases on various manufacturing operations in order to facilitate better scheduling, while effective production schedules ensure smoothness of downstream operations. As apparel manufacturing environment is fuzzy and dynamic, rigid production schedules based on SAMs become futile in the presence of any uncertainty. In this paper, a fuzzification scheme is proposed to fuzzify the static standard time so as to incorporate some uncertainties, in terms of both job-specific and human related factors, into the fabric-cutting scheduling problem. A genetic optimisation procedure is also proposed to search for fault-tolerant schedules using genetic algorithms, such that makespan and scheduling uncertainties are minimised. Two sets of real production data were collected to validate the proposed method. Experimental results indicate that the genetically optimised fault-tolerant schedules not only improve the operation performance but also minimise the scheduling risks.     

涤纶织物热定型后动态力学行为

利用Rhcovibron DDV-II-EA型动态粘弹谱仪测试了PET平纹布在不同温度热定型后的布样及其经、纬纱的动态力学性质。发现布及其纱的动态力学-温度谱与原纤维的截然不同。在[Ε]-T 曲线上出现[Ε]峰,[Ε]_max值随织物热定型温度的增高呈指数下降,峰位向高温移动。同时在Ε’’-T曲线上出现双损耗模量峰,相应的松弛转变活化能相差半个数量级。初步分析认为,与织布过程及随后的织物热定型有关。     

Eco-dyeing and functional finishing of wool fabric based on Portulaca oleracea L. as colorant and Musa basjoo as natural mordant

Biomass energy is the most acknowledged renewable resource due to its universality, richness, and renewability. This study utilized a Portulaca oleracea L. plant as a natural colorant for wool fabric dyeing with a high color yield at optimum extraction and dyeing conditions. To evaluate the dyeing mechanism and feasibility of the extracted dyes, we analyzed and characterized the molecular structure and nano-level particle size. The dyeing kinetics and the morphology of dyed fabrics were integratedly explored; the adsorption process of wool fabric on natural colorant molecules was increasingly in line with the pseudo-second-order kinetic adsorption model. Further, the dyeing effects of wool fabrics were compared to that of Musa basjoo mordant and synthetic dyes to confirm the superior color depth (K/S value 23.53), biological function as anti-ultraviolet (UPF value 253.47), and anti-bacterial activity (antibacterial rate of Staphylococcus aureus/Escherichia coli was 71.3%/37%). Our findings provide a feasible scheme for providing deep color and biological activity to wool fabrics. This has broad application prospects in the field of eco-friendly textile materials.     

Determination of Formaldehyde Traces in Fabric and in Indoor Air by a Kinetic Fluorimetric Method

A simple and sensitive kinetic fluorimetric method is reported for the determination of trace amount of formaldehyde. The proposed method is based on the catalytic effect of formaldehyde on the oxidation reaction of rhodamine B with potassium chlorate in sulfuric acid solution. Formaldehyde in the range of 0.020-0.340 µg/mL can be determined with a limit of detection of 5.73 ng/mL. The method has been used to determine trace formaldehyde in fabric and in indoor air. The results thus obtained show good agreement with those determined by acetyl acetone method.     

Nelumbo nucifera leaves as source of water-repellent wax: Extraction through polar and non-polar organic solvents

Nelumbo nucifera leaves are rich source of natural wax possessing super-hydrophobic properties. It provides protection to them from ecological turbulences and climatic wear and tear. In this study, various experiments have been conducted to observe the yield of extraction and the determination of various functional groups, which are present in natural wax, derived from Nelumbo nucifera leaves. The natural wax has been extracted from lotus leaves through non-polar (hexane) and polar (ethanol) solvent via different extraction methods. The superhydrophobic wax has been successfully extracted with hexane. Whereas, ethanol did not extract the water-repellent wax of lotus leaf. Considering the cumulative amount, i.e. (desired + undesired), the maceration shows the extraction of 2.9% (%w/w, through hexane) and 10.2% (%w/w, through ethanol), while it was found 2.5% (%w/w, cycle period 15 min) and 9.0% (%w/w, cycle period 26 min) respectively, in case of Soxhlet extraction technique. For this specific case of natural wax recovery from biomass (lotus leaf), the maceration (traditional method) resulted a little bit superior extraction yield in comparison to the Soxhlet extraction method for extraction of crude wax. In the case of non-polar solvent (hexane), an extraction yield of 1.97% (%w/w) through maceration method was observed while in the case of non-polar solvent (ethanol), an extraction yield of 1.62% (%w/w) through Soxhlet extraction was observed. The TLC analysis on both types of extracts was performed. For the detection of various hydrocarbon chains in the crude wax extracts, FTIR was also performed. Topography of wax surface and wax-coated waterproof fabric was compared through SEM.     

基于快速热释放功能的相变偶氮苯/织物复合材料

针对偶氮基光敏分子存在放热速率慢和温度难以控制的难点,在分子结构设计基础上,采用氧化偶合法制备了具有固-液相变功能的4,4′-对-二正己基偶氮苯(AZO-L6).由于分子间作用力较低,偶氮苯分子呈现低熔、快异构化的特点,在发生反-顺异构化转变时大幅降低分子的熔点.固-液相变过程实现了光热能和相变焓的存储,在结构回复时同时放出储存的能量(231.8 kJ/kg),并将相变偶氮苯应用于可穿戴聚合物复合织物中.结果显示储能后的相变偶氮苯分子在蓝光(440 nm)刺激下在60 s内可将材料温度提升0.8℃,获得了具有自加热功能的可穿戴复合织物,为探索多功能自保温可穿戴装置提供了研究思路.     

Biaxial tensile behavior and strength of architectural fabric membranes

The utilization of composite fabric membrane materials for large-span membrane structures has attracted considerable attention in recent decades due to enhanced material properties. Biaxial mechanical properties with respect to real engineering applications are essential and indispensable in comparison with uniaxial ones. This study focuses on true biaxial characteristics of a typical polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)-coated polyester membrane material in terms of stress-strain characteristics and breaking criteria.The true stress-strain curves obtained from an experimental study, i.e. seven loading ratios on the basis of symmetry and typical conditions, are investigated with digital image correlation method. The interpolation of these curves in combination of least square method achieves a three-dimensional strain surface as a function of warp and weft strains, which is useful to assess reasonable structural behavior. A new breaking criteria intended for architectural fabric membrane is proposed in analogy to Tsai-Hill, Yeh-Stratton and Norris failure criteria. The basic constants in the criteria are determined using experimental results. A comparative analysis between available uniaxial and biaxial criteria shows that the new criteria can cover all criteria due to the fact that biaxial mechanical properties are larger than uniaxial ones. Furthermore, a similar but glued specimen is employed to compare welded specimens. It is obtained that observations, values and curve tendency are similar, demonstrating the suitability of using new specimens to identify true biaxial properties.     

Low velocity impact response of flax/polypropylene hybrid roving based woven fabric composites: Where does it stand with respect to GRPC?

Flax-PP based thermally bonded roving (TBR) has a unique structure where the flax fibres remain twist-free and fully aligned along the roving axis. The present study describes an experimental investigation on the low velocity impact (LVI) behaviour of the TBR based woven fabric composites and compares the same with plain woven glass fabric reinforced PP composites (GRPC). Two different fabric architectures namely plain woven (PW) and unidirectional (UD) are fabricated using flax/PP based TBR. These TBR based woven fabrics and the glass fabric/PP sheets are consolidated in a compression moulding machine and the resultant composite-laminates are tested for their LVI behaviour. The impact test results revealed that the glass/PP composites absorb more energy and exhibit a higher peak load than both TBR based PW and UD fabric composites. However, the specific load and energy of all flax/PP composites are higher than the glass/PP composite. The damage tolerance of all composite laminates are evaluated by comparing their flexural strength before and after the impact. It is observed that the proportionate loss in flexural strength due to impact thrust is larger in case of glass/PP composites than all flax-PP composites.     

Electromagnetic interference shielding characteristics of fabric complexes coated with conductive polypyrrole and thermally evaporated Ag

Through the chemical coating of polypyrrole (PPy) doped with naphthalene sulfonic acid (NSA) on electrically insulating poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) woven fabric, PPy–NSA/PET complexes were synthesized. By using the electrochemical coating of PPy doped anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid (AQSA) on PPy–NSA/PET complexes, PPy–AQSA/PPy–NSA/PET complexes were synthesized. The silver (Ag) was thermally vacuum evaporated on the surface of PPy–AQSA/PPy–NSA/PET complexes (Ag|PPy–AQSA/PPy–NSA/PET). Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding efficiency (SE) and dc conductivity (σ_dc) of fabric complexes were measured for EMI shielding characteristics and theoretical simulation. The measurement of EMI SE in the frequency range from 50 MHz to 1.5 GHz was performed by using ASTM D4935-99 method. The EMI shielding characteristics such as transmittance, reflectance and absorbance were obtained from the S (scattering)-parameter analysis. We control the contribution of the absorbance or the reflectance to total EMI SE through the coating of conductive PPy and the evaporation Ag.