Medical textiles account for a huge market due to widespread applications not only in hospitals, hygiene and health care sectors, but also in hotels and other environments where hygiene is required.
Demand for special fibres produced from natural polymers such as alginate, chitin or chitosan, starch, keratin or bio-synthesized cellulose is quite high, because of their unique properties and growing areas of application.
Alginate exists widely in brown seaweeds, acting as a reinforcing element for cell walls. These fibres have unique gel forming characteristics.
Upon contact with wound exudates, the sodium ions in the wound exudates can exchange with the calcium ions in the fibres and as more and more sodium ions enter the fibre structure, the fibres absorb more and more water and form a gel.
The gelled structure helps to keep a moist interface between the dressing and the wound surface, which can assist the healing process. Alginate fibre has become one of the most important materials for wound dressing.
Apart from generating a moist healing environment, alginate dressings facilitate a high absorbency of exudates from the wound.
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Fibre2fashion News Desk - India