Gas-emitting textiles offer anti-microbial option
05/06/2009
The Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology (IHB) at The Hohenstein Institutes research facility in Germany is claiming to have developed the first textile material that can release "medically effective gases".
The organisation believes the product will be used in future healthcare applications. The prototype that has been developed consists of cotton fibres that have been refined with silicon oxide particles by using nanosol technology.
Bonded into this matrix is a substance that functions as a dispenser for nitrogen monoxide (which is also known as nitric oxide). It releases the gas under particular physiological conditions.
The areas in which a material that emits nitric oxide could be applied are diverse because the molecules of the gas possess a wide range of characteristics. Nitric oxide is naturally present in the human body, where it serves a number of biological purposes, including for vasodilatation and as a molecular neurotransmitter. In addition, nitric oxide also has an
anti-bacterial effect based on destruction of the cell membranes of bacteria, damage to their genetic material and restriction of their metabolism for energy.
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