Effects of clothing size and air ventilation rate on cooling performance of three air ventilation jackets (size: S, M and L) were investigated. Two ventilation rates were chosen: low ventilation (LV, 12 L/min) and high ventilation (HV, 20 L/min). A significant difference in the dry heat loss at UBody (i.e., upper body excluding the head and hands) was noted among three sizes (p < 0.05). Ventilation rate significantly increased the total UBody heat loss and thereby reduced the UBody’s apparent evaporative resistance (p < 0.05). Clothing size showed varied impact on the UBody heat loss and the impact varied with air ventilation rates. Air ventilation could greatly reduce predicted core temperatures, mean skin and UBody temperatures in both S and L. In contrast, clothing size had almost no impact on predicted thermophysiological responses in HV. This work may be useful for designing and improving high performance air ventilation clothing.

In 2017, more than 60,000 firefighters and oilfield-workers injuries and fatalities occurred while they were working under various thermal hazards such as flame, radiant heat, steam, etc., or due to their significant heat stress related discomfort. The majority of these burn injuries and fatalities results from an inadequate protection and comfort provided by firefighters’ and oilfield-workers’ fire protective polymeric textile materials used in their workwear. Hence, both the thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fabrics used in workwear significantly contribute to limit firefighters’ and oilfield-workers’ skin burns and heat stress. Considering this, previous studies have focused on characterizing and developing empirical models to predict the protective and comfort performance based on physical properties of the fabrics. However, there are still some technical knowledge gaps in the existing literature related to this. This paper critically reviewed the literature on characterization and modeling of thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fire protective textile fabric materials. The key issues in this field have been indicated in order to provide direction for the future research and advance this scientific field for better protection and comfort of the firefighters and oilfield-workers.

Most of the fatalities and injuries of oilfield workers result from inadequate protection and comfort by their clothing under various work hazards and ambient environments. Both the thermal protective performance and thermo-physiological comfort performance of textile fabrics used in clothing significantly contribute to the mitigation of workers’ skin burns and heat-stress-related deaths. This study aimed to apply the ANN modeling approach to analyze clothing performance considering the wearers’ sweat moisture and the microclimate air gap that is generated in between their body and clothing. Firstly, thermal protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance of fire protective textiles used in oilfield workers’ clothing were characterized. Different fabric properties (e.g., thickness, weight, fabric count), thermal protective performance, and thermo-physiological comfort performance were measured. The key fabric property that affects thermal protective and thermo-physiological performance was identified as thickness by statistical analysis. The ANN modeling approach could be successfully implemented to analyze the performance of fabrics in order to predict the performance more conveniently based on the fabric properties. It is expected that the developed models could inform on-duty oilfield workers about protective and thermo-physiological comfort performance and provide them with occupational health and safety.

Infectious respiratory diseases such as the current COVID-19 have caused public health crises and interfered with social activity. Given the complexity of these novel infectious diseases, their dynamic nature, along with rapid changes in social and occupational environments, technology, and means of interpersonal interaction, respiratory protective devices (RPDs) play a crucial role in controlling infection, particularly for viruses like SARS-CoV-2 that have a high transmission rate, strong viability, multiple infection routes and mechanisms, and emerging new variants that could reduce the efficacy of existing vaccines. Evidence of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmissions further highlights the importance of a universal adoption of RPDs. RPDs have substantially improved over the past 100 years due to advances in technology, materials, and medical knowledge. However, several issues still need to be addressed such as engineering performance, comfort, testing standards, compliance monitoring, and regulations, especially considering the recent emergence of pathogens with novel transmission characteristics. In this review, we summarize existing knowledge and understanding on respiratory infectious diseases and their protection, discuss the emerging issues that influence the resulting protective and comfort performance of the RPDs, and provide insights in the identified knowledge gaps and future directions with diverse perspectives.

Polyamide-6 (PA) is a popular textile polymer having desirable mechanical and thermal properties, chemical stability, and biocompatibility. However, PA nanofibers are prone to bacterial growth and user discomfort. ε-Poly-L-lysine (PL) is non-toxic, antimicrobial, and hydrophilic but lacks spinnability due to its low molecular weight. Given its similar backbone structure to PA, with an additional amino side chain, PL was integrated with PA to develop multifunctional nanofibers. This study explores a simple, scalable method by which to obtain PL nanofibers by utilizing the structurally similar PA as the base. The goal was to enhance the functionality of PA by addressing its drawbacks. The study demonstrates spinnability of varying concentrations of PL with base PA while exploring compositions with higher PL concentrations than previously reported. Electrospinning parameters were studied to optimize the nanofiber properties. The effects of PL addition on morphology, hydrophilicity, thermal stability, mechanical performance, and long-term antimicrobial activity of nanofibers were evaluated. The maximum spinnable concentration of PL in PA-based nanofibers resulted in super hydrophilicity (0° static water contact angle within 10 s), increased tensile strength (1.02 MPa from 0.36 MPa of control), and efficient antimicrobial properties with long-term stability. These enhanced characteristics hold promise for the composite nanofiber’s application in medical and protective textiles.