Protective textiles, also known as ProTech, are a kind of technical textile. These textile materials are used to make protective clothing. This kind of apparel is ideal for a person who faces various risks in his/her profession. This textile not only offers protection but also provides comfort for the wearer. In this article, I’ll discuss all the Protective textiles in detail.
What is Protective Textile?
Protective textiles, or ProTech, are one of the most important sectors of technical textiles. This textile provides a variety of protection functions, including heat resistance, bullet-proofing, ballistic protection, chemical protection, and temperature protection, among others. This kind of fabric is mainly used for its functional properties rather than aesthetic properties.
Protective textiles or fabrics are widely used in protective clothing, which is very important for a person who faces risk in his profession. This application has been used to safeguard against a variety of natural and man-made hazards. While protection is the main property of this fabric, it does not also ignore comfort. A number of protective clothing is manufactured from this technical textile.
Protective textiles: raw materials
Various raw materials are used in protective textiles. Depending on the type of clothing, different types of fabric are used. Here is a list of raw materials below:
- Carbon Fiber: This kind of fabric is used to manufacture aviation and spacecraft, industrial fabrics, and marine textiles.
- Meta-Aramid Fiber: Industrial protective clothing, Hot gas filter bag, racing suit, all are manufactured from this fiber.
- Polypropylene Fiber: Marine ropes and wires, boat sail protection equipment, boat or ship construction are all made with this fiber.
- Polybenzimidazole fiber: Used to make high-temperature protective clothing, gas filtration, etc.
- Tencel Fiber: Tencel fibre is used in infiltration, a variety of medical textiles, and industrial fabrics in the oil industry.
Properties of Protective Textiles
Protective Textiles fabric comes with several exclusive features. And this textile is used based on its dedicated features and functionalities. Here are the features and functionalities of Protective fabric below:
- Protech is a lightweight and excellently durable textile fabric.
- This fabric comes with excellent Drapes as well as Handle features.
- This fabric has a resistant capability to water and wind, and it also has a cold temperature.
- It is also resistant to microorganisms, bacteria, and chemicals.
- Bulletproof and ultraviolet resistant protective textiles are available.
Types of protective textiles
Textiles that provide protection have a wide range of uses. Protective fabrics are utilised in practically every work setting for a variety of reasons, including worker protection. Below, we’ll look at the most important application areas for protective textiles:
Flame Retardant Textiles
Flame retardant clothing is made of cotton or nylon and other fibres like Aramid. This kind of textile has chemical finishes to reduce the flaming rate. Flame Retardant apparel is mandatory for workers who work in a high-temperature environment.
Chemical Resistance Textiles
Chemical Resistance Textiles are protective clothing that is primarily used to avoid exposure to a variety of risks. Activated Carbon was once utilized in this clothing, but it is now replaced by three layers of clothes. Workers wear this style of clothing in the chemical industry to secure them from dangerous chemicals.
Health-care Textiles
Medical personnel usually have to work in contact with blood and other infectious fluids. Protective medical textile clothing is made to protect them from these liquids. These garments include respiratory membranes, masks, footwear, emergency room textiles, etc.
Firefighter suits
High temperatures are a well-known foe of fire-fighters since they lead to mishaps. This is why fire-fighters need a suit that protects them from thermal radiation. Coats, pants, underpants, helmets, boots, gloves, station wear outfits, and breathing apparatus are all included in a fire-fighter suit. For fire fighting efficacy, this suit made of 56 different fibres was tested.
Micro-organism protection
These types of clothing are primarily designed to protect those who study micro-organisms. Microorganisms are the cause of many infectious diseases. Fibres have a high absorption capacity to remove fluids so that they do not harm the researchers in any way.
Space shuttle clothing
The space shuttle is a NASA-controlled reusable low-Earth orbital spaceship. Special suits are designed for astronauts in space and aboard space shuttles, taking into account issues such as heat, pressure changes, chemicals, micro matricides, balance, and so on. Kevlar, Space suits are made of Nylon, Dacron, Nomex, Teflon, and Carbon Fibre.
Bulletproof clothing
It’s a kind of protective textile that helps absorb the impacts of explosions while minimising injuries from bullets fired. These vests have a layer of extremely strong fibres that grab and distort bullets by spreading their ball throughout a broad portion of the vest fibre. This sort of attire is worn by police, the military, and bomb disposal officers.
Radiation Resistance Textiles
Radiation Resistance is a kind of Protective clothing that is used to prevent the body from being irradiated by radioactive substances. Professional employees at cancer treatment clinics and nuclear power plants frequently wear this.
Ultraviolet Protective Clothing
One of the most common disorders induced by UV exposure is skin cancer. As a result, it is critical to take action against harmful radiation. UV protection clothing’s purpose is to protect the skin from the damaging effects of the sun, which is now commonly utilized.
Ballistic Retardant Textiles
Ballistic protection includes both his body and his eyes. Aramid, super-duper molecular weight polyethylene, and crystalline polymer-based fibres are the most often utilised materials for this kind of protective fabric. Hybrid fibre is increasingly being used in ballistic military equipment.
Mechanical Protective Textiles
The mechanical characteristics of the fibres provide personal protective function against various threats such as ballistics, sharp cuts, penetration, piece projections, knives, and slashing when the textile substance is interlaced. Elevated components such as glass fibre, HT polypropylene and steel are used in combination.
Final Thought
Protective textiles are a type of technical textile that has a wide range of applications. New and innovative products are important in the protective textile sector. Functional as well as budget-friendly materials are both a potential and a requirement. Textiles designated as technical or industrial textiles now include protective garments as a major component. In today’s environment, protective textiles are in higher demand, whether for environmental, chemicals, radioactive, or other protection.
Article By:
MD MAHEDI HASAN
Content Writer and SEO Expert