For those who don't know Kevlar is a strong, lightweight and fire resistant material and is used for suits worn by firefighters, police and other emergency workers. It is even used in tires and body armor. Researchers at University of South Dakota plan to add germ fighting to Kevlar's features. Yuyu Sun and Jie Luo have developed a new method to coat Kevlar with a substance called acyclic N-Halamine. They tested it against E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida tropicalis (a fungus), MS2 virus, and Bacillus subtilis spores (to mimic anthrax).
This is what they found:After a short time, large amounts of microorganisms stuck to untreated fabric samples, but the coated fabrics showed little to no adherence of the infectious agents. The coating is long lasting and can be reactivated if needed.
"The resultant fabric materials provided potent, durable, and rechargeable biocidal activities.The excellent thermal and mechanical properties of the original Kevlar fabrics were successfully retained after the coating treatment."
The PMAA-based coating, as it's called, is said to have antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antispore functions.
"Although more studies are needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of the coated Kevlar fabrics, these findings point to the great potential of the PMAA-based coating approach for a broad range of real applications."
This is what they found:After a short time, large amounts of microorganisms stuck to untreated fabric samples, but the coated fabrics showed little to no adherence of the infectious agents. The coating is long lasting and can be reactivated if needed.
"The resultant fabric materials provided potent, durable, and rechargeable biocidal activities.The excellent thermal and mechanical properties of the original Kevlar fabrics were successfully retained after the coating treatment."
The PMAA-based coating, as it's called, is said to have antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antispore functions.
"Although more studies are needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of the coated Kevlar fabrics, these findings point to the great potential of the PMAA-based coating approach for a broad range of real applications."
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