Using antibacterial fibers and metallic wires to make woven fabrics used as smart diapers

Abstract

Cloth diapers also known as eco-diapers, traditional sandwich-structured eco-diapers are composed of top and bottom layers that are made of cotton or polyester nonwoven fabrics. On account of the hydrophilic bottom layer, urine permeates when the water absorption reaches saturation. In this study, polypropylene is melt-blown into hydrophobic polypropylene nonwoven fabrics to be used as the top and bottom layer. Polypropylene is hydrophobic but after being fabricated into nonwoven fabrics, the porous structure enables the urine to leak to the absorbent interlayer of eco-diapers. Hence, the top layer of diaper does not contain urine, which makes smart diapers more comfortable than cloth diapers that are made of cotton or other moisture-absorbent materials. Moreover, the sensing mechanism via Bluetooth module can detect the water content of the interlayer with a view to improving the demerit of urine leakage. The interlayer is the sensing layer that has antibacterial function. Two types of antibacterial yarns are treated by zinc oxide and silver ions. The yarns are fabricated into antibacterial woven fabrics, after which the antibacterial properties of fabrics are investigated with quantitative and qualitative tests. Next, two parallel metallic wires are assembled in order to trigger short circuit when sensing moisture, thereby obtaining different electric resistance based on different moisture levels. Furthermore, the miniature senor can signify the cellular phones or buzzers when the two metallic wires generate electrical resistance due to the presence of urine. The metallic wires are silver-plated copper yarns, stainless steel fibers, and copper fibers, which possess different electric resistance for the corresponding miniature sensors. This study proposes an efficient manufacture of smart diapers that require only a combination of woven fabrics and two metallic wires to sense moisture, the design of which can be encompassed in diverse fields.

A Study on Tencel/LMPET–TPU/Triclosan Laminated Membranes: Excellent Water Resistance and Antimicrobial Ability

“…A qualitative assessment antimic bial testing was used to evaluate the membranes by observing the inhibition zones of t test strains: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC25922). The p tocol was performed according to the procedure described by Pinho et al and Shiu et [14] Each sample was tested at least five times. Next, the melt blending-coating method is used to produce TPU/triclosan compound membranes containing different triclosan contents.…”

A green flexible and wearable biosensor based on carbon nanofibers for sensitive detection of uric acid in artificial urine

“…[5][6][7] This traditional medical model does not allow individuals to participate in the monitoring of their own health, which is not conducive to the early diagnosis and predictive analysis of diseases. [8][9][10][11] In addition, with the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID- 19), the diagnostic steps are more complicated. 9 It is particularly important to realize personal health monitoring at home to meet the needs of users to acquire dynamic physiological state actively in time and achieve personalized medicine.…”

“…Typically, the electrodes are composed of noble metals (platinum or gold) attached to flexible substrates, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). 11,[18][19][20] Although these biosensor materials have high conductivity, due to the poor permeability it is difficult for them to meet the requirements of body heat and humidity comfort. 4,6,21 Considering that the intimate contact between the closed working electrode and human skin will destroy the dynamic balance of heat dissipation, wearing biosensors for a long time will lead to allergic reactions such as skin pruritus.…”