This study, referring to the biologically active compounds compatible with textile materials, reveals its influence on human psychophysiological activity. In the COFUND-MANUNET III-AromaTex project, essential oils extracted from lavender, rosemary, mint, thyme were studied and selected to be used for obtaining of aroma-therapeutic effects on textiles, as well as other various effects, such as: skin hydration and anti-acne, revitalizing and reducing stress, improving of microcirculatory blood flow and cellular metabolism. In recent years, electrophysiological studies have been reported worldwide that have shown that different flavors affect spontaneous brain activities and cognitive functions that can be measured by the EEG encephalogram. The presented study contributes to the optimization of formulations which contain essential oils adapted to the conditions of technologies application for deposition and immobilization on textiles, with a particular emphasis on the desired therapeutic effect and the controlled release of essential oils. Aromatherapy application in textile industry led to a series of value-added products that give besides comfort a number of other properties (anti-acne, antimicrobial, fragrance, antiinflammatory sedation, or soothing properties). In recent years, aromatherapeutic textiles were applied in many fields such as food, cosmetics, medicine, tobacco, textiles, leather, papermaking and pharmaceutical industries. The purpose of this chapter was to present the essential oils used in textile finishing, textile supports used for aroma finishing, embedding methods and the controlled release of essential oils.

The antimicrobial fibres, with encapsulated antimicrobial agents, prevent the bacteria developing and maintain the body under hygienic conditions a longer time, refreshing and facilitating the skin respiration, eliminating the possibility of giving out the unpleasant odour. The capsules continuously migrate towards the fibre surface, until exhaustion, achieving a protection zone on the surface. The clothing products and socks made of antimicrobial fibres preserve their antimicrobial effect after numerous washings, unlike the textiles covered with polymers that contain antimicrobial agents that retain their antimicrobial effect only several washings. The main objective of the research was the development of advanced technologies and functional textiles with ecological impact on the environment and human body, the promotion of raw materials using superior hygienic-functional characteristics as well as antibacterial and anti-allergic properties. Finally, both the performances of the hygienic and functional characteristics of the developed textile products and the positive impact over the environment were accomplished due to the antimicrobial fibres and by using the ecological finishing technologies and treatment with plant extracts with antimicrobial and anti-allergic properties. Microencapsulation can prolong the shelf life of various volatile and non-volatile cosmetic ingredients by delaying oxidation and evaporation. The suitability of microcapsules for cosmetic textiles applications depend on the range of diameter, mechanical robustness and content release profile of microcapsule to offer appropriate potential for specific functionality.

There is nowadays an increasing vogue for so-called cosmetic textiles which are essentially garments that are designed to come into contact with the skin, which then transfer some active substances that may be used for cosmetic purposes. In order to obtain the textile materials with potential for use in the development of cosmetic textiles, this study approached the experimentation of deposition by padding and exhaustion of commercial rose microcapsules on knitted textile structures with different fiber compositions. The finished textile materials were characterized in terms of functionalization treatments durability, release of bioactive compounds in sweat solution and antibacterial activity, respectively. In order to identify the functionalization method which ensures the deposition of a high content of microcapsules on the knitted fabric surface, which implicitly leads to a high functional effect, solid-liquid and liquid-liquid extraction method for sample preparation and a gas chromatography with mass spectrometry detection (GC-MS) for identification of active compunds have been involved. SEM analysis was used to investigate the distribution of microcapsules on the textile materials surface, before and after 1 washing cycle and 9000 abrasion cycles. Antibacterial activity of treated samples has been evaluated before and after 1 washing cycle against the Staphylococcus aureus test strains.

The objective of this study was to investigate the behavior in finishing of textile materials made of man-made fibers containing ZnO in blends with cotton. It has been studied the possibilities of reducing the concentration of the chemical agents considered to be aggressive for the functional textile fibers, the temperature and the duration of the processes, as well as the number of technological operations performed, so that the dyeing quality will not suffer and the dyed samples to be acceptable from the uniformity and fastness point of view. To highlight the influence of the chemical auxiliaries used in finishing operations, the process temperature, pH and the treatment duration on the phys - ical-chemical and physical-mechanical characteristics of the functional fibers, various methods of preliminary treatment and dyeing were applied in different experimental variants. In order to assess the preliminary treatments performance from whiteness degree and hydrophilicity point of view, the fabrics were tested before and after preliminary treatments. Finished fabrics (preliminary treated and dyed) were tested for the efficiency of the performed treatments in terms of color difference attributes and color fastness. The finished fabrics were also characterized in terms of the main physical-chemical and physical-mechanical characteristics: mass, tensile strength, tearing strength, water vapor permeability, air permeability. SEM analysis was used to investigate the surface morphology of treated fabrics. Antibacterial activity of treated samples was tested against the Staphylococcus aureus test strain.