A review on designing viral barrier fabrics with monolithic films

Protection of medical personnel against pathogenic viruses is a challenging task for the world scientific community. The purpose of this paper is to collect, analyze, critique, rearrange and present the scattered information scientifically to form a base for product development for viral protection.

A huge range of recently available information has been collected, studied and arranged judiciously.

After an exhaustive study of this topic, it is possible to present all information in a manner that will be helpful to start product development activity on both sides of the Atlantic. Initially, various coated textiles with zero breathability were used to cover doctors, nurses and staff but thereafter microporous coatings replaced the poreless surface coatings. However, the pore size distribution in microporous films and coatings could not be controlled precisely and manufacturers could not claim the surface offered foolproof protection against viruses. Monolithic films are able to claim guaranteed protection against virus penetration, with sufficient breathability. Monolithic film technology has prime importance in protective clothing that has to be discussed judiciously. Permeability of block copolymers based monolithic films is an important feature for barrier materials, high performance impermeable breathable clothing and membrane separation processes.

This is a first paper in the field of viral barrier fabrics which will remain helpful to the scientific community to start further research work and product development.