Development of high quality hygiene and medical textiles

The development of high quality hygienic and medical textiles is nowadays an important and current topic. Since such products are in great demand on the market, the manufacturing of these products represents a great opportunity for Slovenian textile industry to increase its competitive position on inland and outland market by redirecting the production to the innovative products with higher added value. The development of new products is based on the research of the structure, mechanical, physical and chemical properties of fibres and final products, on the improvement of their technological properties as well as on the process optimisation and rationalisation and environmental care. In a proposed project a special care will be dedicated to these topics. Highly absorbend cellulosic textiles, such as cotton wadding, gauze, products for personal care and terry webs represent a very important group of hygienic and medical textiles. The objective of our work will be focused on the improving the quallity of these products and as part of this research the possibility to use and replace cotton with viscose fibres in these products will be investigated. New, more rational and environmental friendlier pretreatment processes and their influence on the product properties as well as the possibilities of further finishing will be investigated. The development of new products, which meet different consumer demands, will be accomplished with the use of finishing processes, such as impregnation with pharmaceutical, cosmetical, antimicrobial and wetting agents. It is also required for some of the medical textiles to be simultaneously highly hydrophobic as well as good air and water vapour permeable. Such products are textile laminates, which are composed of the basic fabric and the microporous membrane. High quality laminated textile products, intended for use as a protective medical textiles will be obtained with a proper choice of components and optimisation of manufacturing process.