INTELTEX - Centre for the Development of Textile Intelligence and Antimicrobial Technologies

Project description

The motivations for the project activities are the desire to effectively protect employees in the health care sector, who are most at risk of contracting COVID-19, and the need to build indigenous capacity for the development of PPE and other means of protection against infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the current pandemic.

The objectives of the project are to build a Textile Intelligence Centre , to develop an antimicrobial air treatment device actively destroying poisons and other microbes in the intake air and to research and validate new materials for so-called clean rooms.

The aforementioned objectives foresee the use of textiles with new properties, which will be developed by the applicant Fibrochem in close cooperation with the research institution VÚB a.s. (CZ) connected to the technology clusters Clutex (CZ ) a FK Textil (DE).

The aim of this activity is to develop and create an antimicrobial device suitable for heat recovery units that will destroy viruses and bacteria entering indoor living and non-living spaces. The device will have the task of destroying all types of viruses and bacteria in the air in both public and residential areas and in air systems providing ambient air.

The aim is to create a unique clean room using innovative materials and technologies that will create a maximally sterile and disinfected room according to the international standard ISO 14644, which will have a positive impact on the recovery and health of patients.

The target group is all public and private organizations involved in the care of the elderly, people with disabilities and other persons dependent on daily social assistance, which, by using equipment and clothing with antimicrobial activity, significantly eliminate the risk of infection.

Activities

Activity No.1

Detailed description of the R&D activity

Using the applicant's laboratory, pilot and industrial production facilities, fibre samples will be prepared with varying levels of zinc-based antimicrobial additives and other modifiers in the fibre mass. The fibres produced will be in finenesses ranging from 33 to 660 dtex, with fibre diameters of 16-31 μm and fibre counts of 16-200 fibres depending on the fineness of the fibres. These will be used for the production of bedding (bed sets), outerwear for staff in healthcare establishments (workwear) and protective clothing (shoe covers, coats, caps). These will then be sent for health evaluation and laundering tests. After confirming the safety of the fibre composition, the prototypes will be produced and sent to the nursing facilities contacted, where they will be evaluated in the long term for their performance, subjective comfort and impact on the development and treatment of decubitus. Ongoing feedback from the partner of the selected healthcare facilities and consultation with the foreign partner VUB a.s. will serve as a requirement according to which the compositions and the method of finalisation of the subsequent samples will be proposed. The selected samples will be evaluated by an accredited external laboratory according to ISO 18184:2019 - Antiviral activity of textiles.

By substituting cotton and polyesters with non-hazardous polypropylene functionalised with antibacterial additives and modifying it according to the requirements of healthcare workers resulting from real operational conditions, it is possible to arrive at garments, bedding, drapes and other PPE with antimicrobial, specially antiviral, activity to reduce the risk of spreading infections in healthcare facilities and increase patient comfort and treatment success. This activity of the fabrics shall be permanent and without significant impact of repeated washings. Also, by making the developed products available on the market, the applicant will increase its competitiveness and increase its domestic capacity for the production of PPE such as drapes, shoe covers and gloves.

Objectives of the activity

The objectives of the activity are 1) to build and implement a Textile Intelligence Centre consisting of pilot production of polymer blends and fibres, pilot production of textiles and prototypes at laboratory scale and a laboratory for evaluation of fibres and textiles, 2) preparation of prototype sets of bedding, clothing for patients and healthcare professionals and PPE (drapes, gloves, sleeves), and 3) development of new clothing, bedding and PPE with enhanced comfort and anti-viral functionalisation.

Activity No.2

Detailed description of the R&D activity

The objective of the activity will be to prepare, test and optimize filtration and technical fabrics for the construction of an inlet filter and a supporting photocatalytic layer for a reactor eliminating pathogens by means of generated free radicals.

Task 1. Production of an initial set of filter fabric samples for the inlet filter of an antimicrobial device. These will be evaluated by the TUKE partner in terms of pressure drop and filtration efficiency.

Task 2. Production of a set of modified filter fabric samples for the inlet filter of an antimicrobial device. Each sample will be produced based on suggestions for addressing deficiencies identified during the evaluation of the initial set of filter fabric samples

Task 3. Preparation of selected filter fabric with virucidal additives

Task 4. Preparation of a polymer blend with a high photocatalytic content

Objectives of the activity

Methods of achieving the objectives

Fibrochem will use laboratories and a pilot production facility for the implementation of the activity. Brief description of the current state of the R&D and related educational infrastructure, methods of preparation of polymer blends and simultaneous softening and lengthening of fibres. Photocatalytic materials and other fillers for the photocatalytic layer and their blends will be supplied to the applicant by the TUKE partner. The high fineness and high filler content fibres will be prepared on local spunbonding and lengthening lines. The feedback from the TUKE partner will play an important role in meeting the objectives of the activity. Given the large number of factors influencing the filtration efficiency of textile materials, the verification of properties on the maximum possible number of designed and manufactured textile samples represents a sure way of early identification of essential factors and suitable properties for optimisation of the developed textiles. Also, the high specific surface area of the fibres together with their mechanical strength and the possibility to serve as a carrier for various micro- and nanoparticles are prerequisites for the development of fibres and textiles with good potential for rapid introduction into practice and further functionalisation.

Uniqueness of the proposed solution

An inlet filter with virucidal activity provided by the content of appropriate additives will reduce the number of active pathogens in the air stream entering the device developed in H3 activity. The use of fabric as a carrier for the photocatalytic layer significantly increases the specific surface area of this active layer.

Activity No.3

Detailed description of the R&D activity

- Research and development of an antimicrobial device for the destruction of organic compounds and viruses in the air

- As a result of this activity, a prototype will be installed in social service homes with "clean rooms"

- The equipment will be tested in certified testing laboratories

- The solution team will utilize existing instrumentation and software available at the university and will also use newly acquired equipment from this project's resources to test and produce a prototype to increase efficiency

-For design, development and simulation will be used existing software tools at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of TUKE - programs SolidWorks, Ansys and others.

-The main collaborating activities are H2 activity, which supplies the mechanical antibacterial and photocatalytic materials needed for the antimicrobial device

- Throughout the activity, results will be published on the website and the main scientific contributions will be published in impacted journals. Once the prototype has been manufactured and tested, it is anticipated that international patents will be filed jointly with Chemosvit Fibrochem in proportion to the final antimicrobial device design.

- Part of this activity is the creation of a "Clean Room" where innovative outputs from all activities will be applied, monitored and evaluated continuously, from the creation of the first prototypes until the end of the project. All data will be used to optimise the materials and technologies used with a view to ensuring the highest possible efficiency while minimising costs.

-The creation of the clean room will be carried out in accordance with the international standard ISO 14644, which defines the necessary requirements for a clean room. The procedures defined in this standard will result in a clean room that will be regularly monitored and evaluated during the project and after the end of the project exclusively with the procedures and values defined in ISO 14644.

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