engleski

Light Conversion for UV Protection by Textile Finishing and Care

The incidence of skin cancer is increasing by epidemic proportions. Its primary cause is a long exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation crossed with the amount of skin pigmentation in the population. It is believed that in childhood and adolescence 80 % of UV-R gets absorbed, whilst in the remaining 20 % gets absorbed later in the lifetime. This suggests that proper and early photoprotection may reduce the risk of subsequent occurrence of skin cancer. Textile and clothing can show UV protection, but in the most cases it does not provide full sun screening properties. UV protection highly depends on large number of factors such are type of fiber, fabric surface and construction, type and concentration of dyestuff, fluorescent whitening agent (FWA), UV-B protective agents, as well as nanoparticles, if applied. Based on electronically-excited state by energy of UV-R (usually 340-370 nm) the molecules of FWAs show the phenomenon of fluorescence giving to white textiles high whiteness of outstanding brightness by reemitting the energy at the blue region (typically 420-470 nm) of the spectrum, what leads to better UV protection. Molecules of UV absorbers are able to absorb the damaging UV-R range of 290 nm to 360 nm, and convert it into harmless heat energy. Latest research declares that FWA’s and UV absorbers can be applied in textile care – washing process as well. Therefore, the UV protective properties of cotton and cotton/polyester blend fabrics achieved by light conversion in textile finishing and care was researched in this chapter. For that purpose, three stilbene derivative fluorescent compounds were selected – fluorescent whitening agent commonly used in textile finishing, the other one used in detergent formulations, and UV absorber. In textile finishing process fluorescent compounds were applied by exhaustion procedure in wide concentration range. In textile care fluorescent compounds were applied through 9 washing cycles at 60°C with standard ECE reference detergent and commercial detergent. UV protection was determined in vitro through Ultraviolet protection factor, UPF. Additionally the influence to fabric whiteness was researched. Since the fabric properties change in wet state, the discrepancy in whiteness and UV protection was research in distilled water as well as Adriatic Sea water.

UV protection, Cotton, polyester/cotton blend, FWA, UV absorber, Wet state

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