Tejidos inteligentes

Résumé

The preparation of smart fabrics from commercial fabrics, both conventional (e.g., cotton) and technical (e.g., aromatic polyamides –aramids-) is described. Thus, the commercial fabrics become smart by coating with a functional polymer. This procedure is a rational alternative to the integral design of a completely new fibre because it is cheap, fast, and keeps the textile characteristics of the fibres. Thus, the specific response to a given stimulus of the fibres fully depends on the chemical structure of the functional polymer. In relation to the topic of this article, this response is a colour change caused by the presence of a certain chemical species in different environments, typically air or water. Specifically, the textile presents chromogenic response toward explosives in the environment or in solution (such as TNT), biomolecules associated with the degradation of foods (such as biogenic amines), acid environment (caused by HCl and other acids), and hazardous molecules to human health (like hydrogen cyanide). The colour change in fibres, fabrics and smart labels is clearly noticeable by the end user and, therefore, these smart materials have application in civil and food security, in health and safety at work, in industrial control, and in environmental monitoring and remediation