Tchaikovsky Textile, a leading manufacturer of special-purpose fabrics, launched the production of the Panacea PP 180 medical antibacterial fabric. The fabric has no analogues in the country. In the world market, as the company informed, if there is something similar, then in any case the analogue has a different ‘recipe’.
Antibacterial tissues have been produced in the world for decades. Almost every year, scientists offer certain improvements to the processes for obtaining antimicrobial coatings, and most large firms adapt them based on their own developments. So, on the market there are fabrics with disinfecting properties obtained through the use of highly creative dyes - profins and fluoresceins, zinc nanoparticles, ultrasound and enzymes.
The development of the ‘Panacea’ lasted about two years in cooperation with the Innovation Center for Textile and Light Industry, the volume of investment in research amounted to about 38 million rubles. The new fabric is 70% viscose, which is why it is hygroscopic and soft, and 30% polycomph, or polypropylene fiber, which is produced under various brands and is considered the best for medical goods, underwear, diapers for newborns. Polycomf stands out by resistance to the appearance and growth of bacteria, repulsion of contaminants, absolute hypoallergenicity and quick drying due to low density. A special CleanOK finish - with a colloidal solution of nanosized silver particles - has been added to the combination of viscose and polycomph fibers. As a result, ‘Panacea’ has a uniquely wide range of properties, which makes it being in demand, especially in connection with the coronavirus pandemic.
The company has already felt an increased demand from the sewing industry for the ‘miracle fabric’, which is purchased for sewing medical masks, although even before the coronavirus boom, it was recommended for the manufacture of clothing for medical workers and patients of medical centers, especially burn and infectious departments. According to Nikita Ryabinin, head of the Luxembourg office of the KRK Group consulting group, in the near future the demand for products from antibacterial fabrics will increase several times. ‘This market has promising and long-term prospects, even if the incidence is now declining everywhere,’ he said. ‘The pandemic has shown that even developed countries are not ready for such bursts of incidence, so in the coming years we will focus on equipping hospitals, developing the production of medical equipment and various products, including antibacterial tissues.’
