Hospitals and nursing home wards are areas prone to the propagation of infections and are of particular concern regarding the spreading of dangerous viruses and multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB). MDRB infections comprise approximately 20% of cases in hospitals and nursing homes. Healthcare textiles, such as blankets, are ubiquitous in hospitals and nursing home wards and may be easily shared between patients/users without an adequate pre-cleaning process. Therefore, functionalizing these textiles with antimicrobial properties may considerably reduce the microbial load and prevent the propagation of infections, including MDRB. Blankets are mainly comprised of knitted cotton (CO), polyester (PES), and cotton-polyester (CO–PES). These fabrics were functionalized with novel gold-hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (AuNPs-HAp) that possess antimicrobial properties, due to the presence of the AuNPs’ amine and carboxyl groups, and low propensity to display toxicity. For optimal functionalization of the knitted fabrics, two pre-treatments, four different surfactants, and two incorporation processes were evaluated. Furthermore, exhaustion parameters (time and temperature) were subjected to a design of experiments (DoE) optimization. The concentration of AuNPs-HAp in the fabrics and their washing fastness were critical factors assessed through color difference (ΔE). The best performing knitted fabric was half bleached CO, functionalized using a surfactant combination of Imerol^® Jet-B (surfactant A) and Luprintol^® Emulsifier PE New (surfactant D) through exhaustion at 70 °C for 10 min. This knitted CO displayed antibacterial properties even after 20 washing cycles, showing its potential to be used in comfort textiles within healthcare environments.

This work aimed to fulfil one of the great consumer trends related to ethically and environmentally sustainable attitudes. The main concept was to develop an alternative material to natural and synthetic leather by creating new bio-coated textile structures with improved environmental credentials, and to use vegetable wastes and by-products from agroforestry industries, as well as biopolymers. Different residues, such as sawdust and pine bark were successfully incorporated in polymeric aqueous formulations and applied as textile coatings. The Life Cycle Assessment of these new textile products showed that they present a lower environmental impact in comparison to natural leather used for clothing and shoe applications. Overall, the alternative material developed here is a favourable sustainable material. The use of by-products to create bio-based materials comprises a great potential for a broad spectrum of applications in other fields in the Textile and Clothing Industry such as fashion, eco-design, sports and protection apparel, furniture decoration, home textiles, footwear, fashion accessories, in addition to others.

In response to increasing environmental concerns, significant efforts have been made to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel-based plastics, driving the development of sustainable alternatives such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). This study investigates the processing of various PHAs into fibres, focusing on their morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties. Different PHAs were spun into fibres at a 15% (w/v) concentration using wet-spinning techniques. Among the PHAs studied, commercially available PHBHHx, used as a reference, exhibited spongy morphology in the fibres and demonstrated thermal vulnerability due to its rapid degradation. Blended fibres showed enhanced morphological and mechanical properties compared with neat fibres. In Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), no differences were observed between the unprocessed polymers and the wet-spun polymeric fibres, indicating that the wet-spinning process did not affect the molecular structure of the polymers. Thermal and mechanical evaluations confirmed the miscibility between the polymers in the blends. Overall, these results highlight, for the first time, the successful production of wet-spun fibres from two modified P(3HB) variants, individually, in combination with each other, and in blends with the well-established commercial PHA, PHBHHx. However, this study also underscores the need to optimise feed rates to enhance fibre production efficiency and mechanical strength, thereby broadening their potential for various applications.

Self-assembled peptide-based hydrogels are archetypical nanostructured materials with a plethora of foreseeable applications in nanomedicine and as biomaterials. N-protected di- and tri-peptides are effective minimalist (molecular) hydrogelators. Independent variation of the capping group, peptide sequence and side chain modifications allows a wide chemical space to be explored and hydrogel properties to be tuned. In this work, we report the synthesis of a focused library of dehydrodipeptides N-protected with 1-naphthoyl and 2-naphthylacetyl groups. The 2-naphthylacetyl group was extensively reported for preparation of peptide-based self-assembled hydrogels, whereas the 1-naphthaloyl group was largely overlooked, owing presumably to the lack of a methylene linker between the naphthalene aromatic ring and the peptide backbone. Interestingly, dehydrodipeptides N-capped with the 1-naphthyl moiety afford stronger gels, at lower concentrations, than the 2-naphthylacetyl-capped dehydrodipeptides. Fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy showed that the self-assembly of the dehydrodipeptides is driven by intermolecular aromatic π–π stacking interactions. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the 1-naphthoyl group allows higher order aromatic π–π stacking of the peptide molecules than the 2-naphthylacetyl group, together with hydrogen bonding of the peptide scaffold. The nanostructure of the gel networks was studied by TEM and STEM microscopy and was found to correlate well with the elasticity of the gels. This study contributes to understanding the interplay between peptide and capping group structure on the formation of self-assembled low-molecular-weight peptide hydrogels. Moreover, the results presented here add the 1-naphthoyl group to the palette of capping groups available for the preparation of efficacious low-molecular-weight peptide-based hydrogels.

In response to the increasing environmental concerns, significant efforts have been made to reduce the reliance on fossil fuel-based plastics, driving the development of sustainable alternatives such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). This study investigates the processing of various PHAs into fibres, focusing on their morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties. Different PHAs were spun into fibres at a 15% (w/v) con-centration using wet spinning techniques. Among the PHAs studied, commercially available PHBHHx, used as a reference, exhibited a spongy morphology in the fibres and demonstrated thermal vulnerability due to its rapid degradation. Blended fibres showed enhanced morphological and mechanical properties compared to neat fibres. In Fouri-er-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), no differences were observed between the unprocessed polymers and the wet spun polymeric fibres, indicating that the wet spinning process did not affect the molecular structure of the polymers. Thermal and mechanical evaluations confirmed the miscibility between the polymers in the blends. Overall, these results highlight the potential of polymer blending to enhance fibre functionality and broaden their application potential. However, the study also empha-sizes the need to explore optimized feed rates to improve fibre production efficiency and increase their resistance, to enlarge their suitability for various applications.

The development of a new generation of coated textile solutions based on the incorporation of industrial natural leather waste from automobile cutting operations, conferring new functionalities with eco-design and fashion effects was studied. This work provides new insights to major consumer trends, including ethical, environmental, and sustainable attitudes, focusing on sustainability from a circular economy and industrial symbiosis perspective. Herein, leather wastes from the automobile industry were transformed using both mechanical and chemical processes. Subsequently, the recycled residues were used to develop new coating formulations and applied as textile coatings, to obtain a new generation of more sustainable-coated textile solutions. The coated substrates were fully characterised and a series of normalized tests were conducted to determine and assess their mechanical and functional properties. The newly developed solutions met and even exceeded the performance standards and specifications of the fashion, shoes and accessories, furniture and home textile sectors. With the elaboration and application of novel coating formulations, a series of prototypes were developed with enhanced and innovative material. The Life Cycle Assessment of these new textile products demonstrated that they hold a lower environmental impact in comparison to natural leather used for clothing and shoe applications. Hence, the valorisation of hydrolysed natural leather wastes by textile coating applications was successfully achieved.