Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Branch Bioanalytics and Bioprocesses IZI-BBDevelopment and production of protective textiles with high-quality
Protective textiles, in particular respiratory protection masks, have become very relevant since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This has led to an increased demand for high-quality protective equipment.
The cluster project Next Generation Protection Textiles offers a vertically integrated approach for the production of improved, high-quality protective textiles. This includes a qualified selection of the basic materials, upscaling studies to create the conditions for a rapid expansion of production capacities, the development of novel antiviral coatings. Furthermore, a comprehensive biological and materials science analysis to verify the improved properties also opens up new methods of quality control. The outcome of the work will result in demonstrators which will offer improved, very high protection through the integrated antiviral textiles and additional design features. At the same time, the aim is not only to maintain a high level of comfort even over longer wearing period, but also to improve audibility.
In a sub-project, the Fraunhofer IZI-BB,together with the Fraunhofer IAP, is contributing to the development of novel surface coatings through innovative strategies. Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are used in this context. Their use is highly interesting because of the efficient elimination of pathogens. In immobilized state, the use of AMP is limited by inactivation due to surface deposition. Other virucidal materials developed so far also have this limitation. An innovativeaspect of the project is the combination of virucidal surface properties with responsive polymers as binding matrices. These polymers enable a temperature-controlled regeneration of the virucidal surfaces, thus ensure safe reusability and therefore also contribute to sustainability in general.