Functional and comfort of special protective clothing

Clothing is classified by function and can be divided into general functions and special functions. Special functional clothing is mainly under various special environmental conditions, clothing worn under special working environment, has a certain guarantee effect on human safety, health and improve the quality of life.

Special protection clothing The main content of functional clothing is protective clothing. Special protective clothing refers to the protection of the human body from harmful chemical, physical and biological harmful substances on specific occasions, and the reasonable and effective exchange of material energy between the skin microenvironment and the outside world. Functional clothing that protects the safety and health of the human body. It involves aerospace, industrial and mining enterprises, public security fire, health care, sports and other fields. In labor protection work, it is an important part of individual protective equipment and has important significance for safe production.

Aerospace Lifesaving

All kinds of environments encountered from high-altitude flight to manned space flight require the use of special-purpose clothing. For high altitude flight, wear a part pressure suit, aerobatics for anti-G suits, marine flight for anti-exposure suits, and manned space suit for space suits. . Space suits and anti-impregnation suits are introduced as follows.

The space suit is a protective and life-saving equipment that guarantees the safety of the astronaut. In the aerospace process, according to needs, the space suit can constitute a microclimate suitable for human life. In terms of structure, it is divided into six layers: (1) underwear comfort layer; (2) warm-keeping layer; (3) ventilation clothing and water-cooling clothing (liquid-cooled clothing); (4) airtight confinement layer; (6) Cover protective layer. Helmet, gloves, boots, etc. are also included in the space suit. Anti-impregnated clothing is a kind of body protection equipment that prevents the body heat from dissipating in a short time after falling into water.

Military equipment

Military equipment is mainly the development of military uniforms. Military uniforms generally include dresses, uniforms, training uniforms, and special clothing, and are one of the unique symbols of military personnel. Anti-virus clothing is one of the important means to protect the survival and working ability of workers when they are attacked by chemical weapons or contaminated by poisons. The new type of anti-virus clothing maintains the anti-virus and waterproof function of the current equipment, while further increasing the flame-retardant function of the clothing. High-performance waterproof camouflage fabric with waterproof, windproof, anti-acid, anti-infrared and other excellent features.

Industrial and mining enterprises

Industrial and mining enterprises use a large number of protective clothing. Oil-repellent and water-repellent protective clothing with good ventilation and moisture permeability and comfortable to wear. Meet the requirements of safety and health performance of oil and water repellent protective clothing (national standard GB 12799-91). Anti-static overalls are protective clothing that must be worn in flammable and explosive places. The prominent feature of the easily decontaminated protective clothing is its dual function of anti-fouling and easy decontamination. Once contaminated, it is easy to wash under normal conditions. Anti-acid work clothes are suitable for chemical industry, light industry electroplating, and other contact with acid operators. They can effectively protect high concentrations of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid. In addition, there are anti-acid anti-static overalls, which are particularly suitable for the working environment where both acid and static electricity are present, and can effectively protect workers. Polyurethane (PU) tape, excellent performance, is an alternative to traditional rubber cloth products.
In many industrial fields such as natural gas, energy and exploration, workers need not only be exposed to the harsh conditions outdoors, but also face the danger of contact with flame and heat radiation during their work. In order to protect the health and safety of the human body, the personal protective equipment needed for the work in these industries must not only possess special protection functions, but also consider the wearer's comfort and a certain service life. The newly developed fireproof, flame-retardant, and heat-resistant protective clothing developed by Gore of the United States can provide high-performance safety protection for outdoor workers in the field of exploration and energy.

Nowadays, the thermal insulation and flame retardant properties of clothing have been European standards ENISO11416 and ENISO11612, testing products with relevant properties. In this regard, Gore has been researching and improving the performance of GORE-TEX garments in climate-resisting, heat-insulating, flame-retardant and fire-retardant based on this, and has also developed Gore's anti-static technology to provide services to workers in special industries. Anti-static, fire prevention, arc prevention and other all-weather protection and protection functions.

GORE-TEX (Goldes) is a soft, tough, top waterproof and breathable fabric developed by WLGORE. The effect of this material is long-lasting, has good tissue compatibility, and can achieve an ideal state at one time. GORE-TEX is a new type of facial filler material with excellent biocompatibility and softness. It is the ideal filling material in the world. At present, high-grade trousers, jackets, shoes, etc., as well as jackets are often made on clothing, and medically used as artificial blood vessels.

This versatile functional fabric consists of two or three layers of laminated fabrics. The surface layer is usually a durable and flame-retardant nitrile-cotton/cotton blend fabric that has been subjected to gluing and lamination with GORE-TEX polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film to achieve the required protective function even at the seams. Can also prevent the flame from spreading. This product complies with the European standards ENISO14116 and ENISO11612 introduced in 2008 to effectively prevent the occurrence of combustion accidents. This two-layer laminated fabric weighs only 280 g/m2, has a good wearing comfort and can withstand 30 industrial launderings and 60°C water wash temperatures.

Public security, firefighting

Flame-retardant protective clothing uses flame-retardant fabric produced by Probene finishing technology, which can effectively prevent the spread of flame and maintain the original performance of the fabric. The fire fighting suit is a protective clothing that is fire-retardant, waterproof, breathable, and insulative and that is worn by firefighters when they perform fire extinguishing operations on a fire site. Fire insulation clothing is the protective clothing that firefighters wear when they are close to the flame to fight fire. Heat-resistant radiation, flame-retardant, and heat-protective protective clothing are not burned through the molten iron poured at 1500°C, and the safety protection function is excellent. Bulletproof vests can protect the vital parts of the body's chest, back and abdomen. The stab-resistant vest has excellent stab-resistant performance, and it can effectively prevent the injury of the sharp, triangular, scraper, switchblade and other sharps on the human chest, abdomen, back and waist. The stab resistance is more than 695 Newton. Bulletproof helmets are made using the latest high-performance non-metallic aramid fabrics in the world today. Special flame-retardant protective clothing can not burn under the high temperature of 800°C, and it is a special garment fabric with high strength, corrosion resistance and good texture.

Health Care

The combination of medical textiles and biomedical engineering has become a high-tech industry. It is distinguished from the form of textile processing and can be divided into four categories: The first category is to obtain antibacterial and disease-preventing effects through fiber modification; the second category is to have the method of finishing to achieve the purpose of disease prevention and treatment and health care; Clothing is a combination of Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese health clothing; the fourth category is made of functional fibers. There are many kinds of medical and sanitary textiles, and there are many applications. The technical requirements of certain products, especially the development of medical textiles and clothing, are invaluable in protecting the health and safety of health care workers and people, benefiting humanity, and developing the textile industry. Prospects.

Sportswear

With the vigorous development of sports, sportswear has entered people's lives with unprecedented speed. Various fashion colors and fabrics have been widely used by sportswear manufacturers.

Various special protective clothing features introduced

According to the type of protection, special protective clothing can be divided into cold clothes, bulletproof and mechanical protective clothing, radiation protective clothing, antivirus clothing, microbiological and bacterial protective clothing, hazardous chemical protective clothing, thermal protective clothing, flame retardant protective clothing, biochemical protective clothing, Medical protective clothing.

Winter clothes

Anti-cold clothing refers to garments that can maintain normal physiological indicators of the human body at temperatures ranging from -10° to -40°C and with strong winds. Its development is in the direction of product serialization, material lightening, scientific structure, and function rationalization.

Anti-cold clothing requires products with high insulation, small size, good comfort and sporty agility. Static air is a poor conductor of heat. In addition, the best insulation medium can also use fluff and goose feathers and other poultry feathers, or through natural animal simulation design to increase the static insulation air content in various filled fibers or high loft materials. In the market, Thins late and Albany International Primaloft of 3M, which uses a mixture of crude fiber, conventional fiber, and fine fiber, absorbs moisture less than 1% of the mass of the fiber, making it warmer than a product that uses natural fluff under humid conditions. .

The weather protection performance of the outerwear material of the winter clothes is better. Therefore, the fabrics with special windproof effects and the fabrics subjected to special windproof finishing are generally used as the outerwear. Underwear material permeability, permeability is better, to meet the comfort of wearing, therefore, underwear is generally used cotton, linen, viscose and other cellulose fibers or regenerated cellulose fiber knitted fabric or rough surface needle cotton products. The warmth of the middle layer is better, if the middle layer contains static air, the warm effect is more ideal. Warm cotton, far-infrared materials, hollow fibers, etc. can be selected as the interlayer material.

A multi-layer synthetic garment designed by the United States Arthur DLittle Company for use in the Antarctic. The inner layer is a polyester fleece underwear with a stem and hydrophobic finish. The middle layer is a brush-like high fluffy polyester fleece insulation layer. The outer layer is waterproof and windproof. Breathable PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) coated aramid knitted fabrics, which not only meet the function of thermal insulation, windproof and waterproof, but also make it breathable and comfortable to wear. However, such garments cannot be treated by ordinary ironing and ironing methods.

Bulletproof and mechanically protective protective clothing

This is a type of body armor protective clothing, mainly used for bulletproof, cut-proof, anti-saw, anti-thin metal, glass, knife or other sharp edge objects. The replacement of Nylon by Kevlar was a major advancement in this area. In the field of soft armor, aramid multilayer stacking can be used to provide further ballistic and stab-resistant protection. Currently, Allied's SpectraShield uses Spectra's ultra-high strength polyethylene fiber to produce polyester composite panels that are 1/3 lighter than Kevlar's, and its 23-layer composite provides the same level of protection as 30-layer Kevlar composites. SpectraShield's operating temperature cannot exceed 200 degrees Fahrenheit, but the thermoforming properties of the material are ideal for a variety of desired shapes.

Anti-cutting and other mechanical protection products include protective gloves made of para-aramid, baffles, sleeves, and anti-saw needle felts. The leg protector can be a needle-punched felt made of para-aramid or denier yarn and fiber, or a composite of needle felt and woven material, which can be entangled with the serrated teeth to stop it and prevent significant harm to the body.

Radiation protective clothing

Most garments can have a certain role in preventing and controlling the entry and isolation of foreign substances from the skin and harmful substances, but the protection against radiation requires a special copolymer coating, such as commonly used polyethylene coating Tyvek, used in nuclear plants, high voltage electricity In current or electronic devices and X-ray environments. The Savannah RiverSitePlutonium plant in the United States uses this special anti-Tritium protective clothing. This garment is coated on both sides of polyester material. The coating material is CPE/EVA/PVDC(Saran)/EVA copolymer. Fabric Saran/CPE coating material or inorganic cloth material. Japan uses polyethylene-coated boron fibers to produce protective ray protective clothing. It can also add lead cores to the fibers to increase the level of protection for X-ray environments.

Radiation protective clothing

Most garments can have a certain role in preventing and controlling the entry and isolation of foreign substances from the skin and harmful substances, but the protection against radiation requires a special copolymer coating, such as commonly used polyethylene coating Tyvek, used in nuclear plants, high voltage electricity In current or electronic devices and X-ray environments. The Savannah RiverSitePlutonium plant in the United States uses this special anti-Tritium protective clothing. This garment is coated on both sides of polyester material. The coating material is CPE/EVA/PVDC(Saran)/EVA copolymer. Fabric Saran/CPE coating material or inorganic cloth material. Japan uses polyethylene-coated boron fibers to produce protective ray protective clothing. It can also add lead cores to the fibers to increase the level of protection for X-ray environments.

Harmful particulate protective clothing

This protective suit is used in protective clothing that works in lead, dust, spraying, or similar fields that design microscopic harmful substances. Such garments are usually made of non-manufactured materials, but also use woven polyester/cotton blends, cotton, or coating materials. . There are three main standard fabrics in the United States: uncoated Tyvek; KimberlyClark's 3-layer spunbond-meltblown-spunbonded Olefin fabric KleenGuard; and hybrid non-manufactured materials such as spunbonded Olefins. These products are usually used at one time, and the main problem at present is to improve the comfort of wearing so that the sweat emitted by the human body can be emitted through the clothing.

Microbiological/bacteria protective clothing

Medical protective clothing is mainly used to protect against the transmission of life-threatening viruses. The composite copolymer coated woven fabrics and non-manufactured fabric protective materials can be used as protective clothing fabrics for medical personnel, emergency personnel and police personnel after antibacterial finishing. Dupont's Biowear material can be used for the protection of blood germs. The Japanese product Bactekiller (Kanebo) adds the bactericide to the spinning solution. The bactericide is mainly silicate, which will play a role when the outside is wet.

Chemical protective clothing

Protective clothing for chemical protection is divided into four levels of ABCD according to the degree of protection. Class A provides the highest protection, the overall seal, contains respiratory equipment to prevent chemical gases and vapors; B and similar to the A level, used to prevent toxic The chemicals are spattered, but not completely sealed; Class C provides protection against chemical splashes and may not have a respirator; Class D only provides less protection.

Ordinary or coated Tyvek spunbond Olefin fabric is the most commonly used chemical protective clothing fabric, higher level of protection can be achieved by Tyvek coating Saranex23P, Saranex23P is a Dow chemical plant product, is a multi-layer protective coating material, a The layer is a low density polyethylene with a copolymer of vinylidene chloride and a layer of vinyl acetate (EVA) bonded to Tyvek. In addition, some manufacturers have also developed polyester and Olefin spunbond or fleece non-manufactured fabric products for less than US$1,000. More durable garments are Nylon, polyester or nylon/polyester blend fabrics, coated with polymer TeflonPTFE (Dupont), butyl EDPM, Viton (Dupont), etc., and can be used as A-grade protective clothing.

Thermal protective clothing

The development of new high-tech heat-resistant fibers such as Nomex, PBI, Kermel, P84, and pre-oxidized Pan fibers, as well as the development of fire-retarded cotton and blended fibers, provide a good basis for the production of such protective clothing. For firefighter suits, the outer layer is usually a Nomex, Kevlar, or Kevlar/PBI blended woven material with a density of 254.6g per square meter (7.5 ounces per square yard) of twill, providing primary fire protection and abrasion resistance. Under the outer layer is a PTFE-coated waterproof layer, waterproof entry and production of hot vapor inside the garment to prevent the generation of hot pressing; below the waterproof layer is a layer of lining to increase the static air content and improve the thermal insulation, usually used The material is a Nomex needled felt or high loft material.

Spring's FireWear fire protection clothing is made of a special blend of acrylic and cotton, which contains vapor-phase fire-retardant substances that are released when exposed to high temperatures. Fire-retardant cotton fabrics still occupy a dominant position in the field of protective clothing, especially in iron processing plants; fireproofed wool fabrics are also used in some areas of thermal protection, in particular foundries; Nomex and Kevlar needle felts, outside Combined with woven cloth or aluminum coated with high heat radiation, it provides super thermal protection and insulation properties.

Flame retardant protective clothing

Fire-retardant properties of textile materials are mainly obtained by two methods. One is the flame-retardant post-treatment of textile materials to achieve the purpose of flame-retardant textiles. The cost of the method is low, but the flame retardancy gradually decreases or disappears with the increase of the service life and the number of washings. Another method is to directly produce flame-retardant fibers, which have permanent flame retardancy.

Fire-retardant materials are most famous for Nomex produced by DuPont in the United States in the 1960s. It has permanent flame retardancy and excellent thermal stability. The U.S. military protective clothing uses this fiber. With the wide application of this fiber, DuPont has successively developed a series of improved Nomex products, of which Nomex IIIA is the most widely used, its composition is 93% Nomex, 5% Kevlar and 2% antistatic fiber. Kevlar is added to increase the heat resistance, anti-shrinkage and anti-seismic performance of clothing under high temperature flame and arc flash explosion. The addition of antistatic fiber is to reduce static electricity and improve wearing comfort.

Nomex has a limiting oxygen index of 28, has a high decomposition temperature, and does not melt at high temperatures. Nomex has good thermal stability. After being used continuously at 260°C for 100 hours, its strength can still maintain 65% of the original strength. The use of 7 days at a high temperature of 304°C can still maintain 50% of the original strength. Nomex also has excellent chemical resistance, ie, resistance to acids, alkalis, oxidants and organic solvents. It is excellent in radiation resistance, and it has almost no loss of strength under the irradiation of a certain intensity of ultraviolet rays and Y rays. Recently, it has been widely used in industrial flame-retardant clothing, arc-proof clothing, fire fighting clothing, racing suits, and welding and front work clothes.

Due to the different industries used, the requirements for protective clothing are also different. For example, in the steel industry, the quality of fire-retardant protective clothing is required to be high, but the price is low. Therefore, most steel industries still use cotton canvas or polyester flame-retardant work clothes. Because cotton overalls are comfortable to wear, easy to handle, and inexpensive, they are still widely used. When selecting fire-retardant protective clothing, the fire department and other departments first consider performance, and the price is only secondarily. They require protective clothing with good flame-retardant properties and high tensile strength, especially small heat shrinkage. In addition to flame retardant protective clothing, we can also provide different functions such as waterproof, oil repellent, antistatic and other functions according to the different requirements of users. After waterproof and oil-repellent treatment of flame-retardant fabrics, the function of flame-retardant protective clothing can be improved; flame-retardant protective clothing can be used for anti-static treatment and can be used in the oil refining industry to prevent fire caused by static electricity; flame retardant fiber and high Performance fibers are blended and interwoven to produce high-performance flame-retardant fabrics; flame-retardant fibers are blended with viscose fibers to improve the comfort of protective clothing while reducing secondary burns.

Recently, the British Carrington Occupational Workwear Company developed the flame retardant protective clothing containing Lyocell fiber for the first time, further expanding the sales of flame-retardant products. This flame-retardant clothing has a flame-retardant effect, can meet EN 470, EN 533 and other flame-retardant standard requirements, as well as high strength and abrasion resistance. This flame-retardant clothing product is Fury, which is produced by blending Lyocell fiber with polyester at a ratio of 80:20. In addition to meeting all the requirements of flame-retardant clothing, it also has an ultra-low shrinkage rate and can improve the comfort of taking. Improved appearance. Such flame-retardant garments will have a wide range of applications in various industrial sectors, including offshore oil industry, chemical production and other departments.

Biochemical protective clothing

Biochemical protective clothing can be broadly divided into two categories: First, isolated protective clothing, usually rubber and plastic, and textiles inside. Such protective clothing is airtight and moisture-proof. In nuclear and biochemical related incidents, such apparel is used for the elimination of specialized professionals such as professional detachments and weapons destruction personnel (chemicals).

The other type is breathable protective clothing, which is a relatively protective clothing. The outer fabric can block the small droplets and vapors of poisons and make it unable to pass through protective clothing, but air and water vapor can penetrate and enhance Wearing comfort. This type of protective clothing is divided into three categories:

(1) Physical absorption type, whose main feature is the use of solvents to absorb poisons. When the protective clothing loses its antivirus ability after absorbing toxic agents, it can be restored after being sterilized by ventilation or hot air and used continuously. The disadvantage is that there is desorption, and the antivirus time is short.

(2) Chemical Absorption type, protective chemical soaking (mainly chloramine), can protect mustard gas vapor and small droplets, but the protective surface is narrow, and chloramines easily lose their chemical activity in the air, irritating the skin , corrosion clothing.

(3) Physical adsorption type breathable protective clothing is composed of a multi-layered structure. The outer layer of the US military's chemical protective clothing is nylon, cotton or blended fabrics. It has the functions of protection against harmful gases, liquids, and flame-retardant. The polymer-based active carbon adsorption technology is used in the middle. The carbon particles have strictly uniform dimensions and chemical protection functions. Activated carbon fiber is also used as an intermediate layer, the fiber has a higher adsorption capacity and a faster adsorption or desorption rate, good moldability, convenient for the production of clothing. And after dipping treatment, it can also be loaded with catalysts, chemical treatment agents, fungicides and so on. A German company developed another activated carbon adsorption technology, which uses spherical activated carbon with a particle size of 0.5 to 1 μm to adhere to the surface of the fabric in a predetermined procedure. The fabric is then compounded with other fabrics to obtain About 1mm thick activated carbon composite fabric. It is generally believed that this material is more solid and reliable than other activated carbon materials and is more conducive to the adsorption capacity of activated carbon.

Medical protective clothing

Medical protective clothing refers to work clothes that are suitable for wearing by medical personnel, can effectively block microorganisms, block the penetration of body fluids, and prevent disease transmission. High-quality protective clothing can greatly improve the protection and safety performance of medical personnel, and it can effectively protect against some extremely contagious bacteria and viruses to minimize the damage.

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a high-performance polymer. In the past 25 years, its composite fabrics have formed the basis for the success of Gore's textile fabrics in the field of medical and health protection. PTFE has a film thickness of about 20-30 microns and contains 9 billion micropores per square meter. The diameter of each micropore is about 0.2~5 microns, which is larger than the water vapor molecular diameter (0.003~0.004 micron) and smaller than the smallest diameter of the water droplet (20~100 micron), plus the lower surface tension of PTFE. Therefore, the PTFE membrane has a higher water pressure resistance, and at the same time, micropores can smoothly discharge sweat vapor. A suitable pore size PTFE membrane can block bacterial viruses. It has excellent strength, stable properties, good biocompatibility, good thermal stability, and easy molding. There are many researches on protective clothing for medical personnel for different medical needs in foreign countries, and the standards are strict. At the same time, there are many protective equipments available, and there is plenty of room for selection.

Compared with foreign countries, there is still a certain gap between China's protective fabrics and clothing. From the applied materials, there are the following three types:

(1) Coating material. Most domestic companies use wet or dry polyurethane, polyacrylate, and polyvinylidene fluoride to coat fabrics and then use the fabrics for protective clothing.

(2) PU, TPU film composites. The composite material has a certain improvement in moisture permeability and comfort compared with the coating material.

(3) PTFE microporous membrane composites. The domestic military has small batches of equipment in the military apparel of special services, and the application of medical protective clothing is still in the research and trial phase. Polytetrafluoroethylene microporous film can effectively solve the two shortcomings of coating materials, PU, ​​TPU film composites poor durability, moisture permeability is not ideal. The disadvantage of PTFE is its high cost. After several years of research, Qingdao Jifa Group has made new breakthroughs in PTFE membrane technology and has become one of the few companies in the world that can produce PTFE membranes. At present, after nearly a year of experimentation, the production of 1.5 million meters of rice produced by the Group has entered the final stage of trial production.

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