report
10.6.4.2 Drivers and Barriers

10.6.4.2 Drivers and Barriers

Innovative medical textiles and sport/outdoors textiles will be one of the main concerns/priorities for the coming years. Nanotechnology brings to these textile products the opportunity to fulfil their performance requirements while retaining key characteristics such as aesthetic properties and comfort level.

In the case of sports and outdoor textiles the main features required by customers are related to comfort: water repellence to keep the body dry; moisture management (e.g. moisture wicking, quick drying); anti-bacterial/anti-odour; UV protection; and wind resistance [116]. Nano-enabled products can meet all these customer demands. In the past, several large sport and outdoor brands incorporated functional nano-coating technology in some products and this has result in a boost of confidence of SMEs in nanotechnology as the brands noticed that the use of nanotechnology was a good marketing tool. However, in the past few years some countries have noticed an uncertainty with respect to potential health hazards. As it has not been proven beyond doubt whether nanoparticles/nanomaterials are harmful or not, uncertainty remains.

Furthermore, medical textiles must fulfil specific characteristics related to non-toxicity, non-carcinogenic, non-allergic and sterilisation capability, without suffering chemical or physical damage [96]. These performance requirements represent the main driver to use nanotechnology as a promising way of obtaining the desired performance requirements while retaining the key textile features/properties.

However, there are still several barriers that must be overcome in order to make nanotechnology a common technology within the sports/outdoor and medical textiles sectors. These barriers are the environmental and health factor and legislation, which is not clear for a product incorporating nanotechnology.

The environmental factor is a key aspect to take into account. Nanotechnologies can have beneficial effects on the environment, but their use can also raise concerns for the potential harmful impact on it. During the last few years environmental legislation has forced the textile industry to address concerns about the possibility to change current textile processes to others with greater efficiency and a lower environmental impact. On one hand, the main issues of the textile industry are the high water and energy consumption, the generation of huge amounts of effluents with high chemical oxygen demand, and excessive colour. With wet dyeing processes like plasma treatments, the fibre surface of the material can be modified to reach the end-properties without less industrial wastes and using less water [117]. On the other hand, textiles with nanoparticles (nanometals) in the fibres or in a coating can make their disposal and the recycling process more difficult.

Another factor, mentioned above, is the potential risk for human health of textiles incorporating nanotechnologies. The need to assure the safety for the wearer of these types of garments is fundamental for the acceptance/success of these products on the open market.

Regarding legislation in the field, it applies in the same way conventional materials and nanomaterials; however, the laws should distinguish them because they can behave very differently. As mentioned before, there are concerns about the effects of nanomaterials and the methods currently used to assess risks are unsuitable for testing nanomaterials, that’s why if the law says that companies can only place products on the market if they are safe, it will not always be easy to determine whether a particular nano-based product is danger or not. Stakeholders tend to think that existing laws are inadequate and are not always clear for a product incorporating nanomaterials.