Insect Bite-Proof textiles for Military Uniforms

Current military uniforms incorporate insecticide-treated textiles as a means of providing protection from vector-borne diseases. While effective, many of these materials have the drawback of losing functionality over the life of the garment, or have poor breathability and are not comfortable. Other drawbacks associated with insecticide treated textiles include insect resistance to current insecticidal agents, as well as potential environmental consequences due to the production and use of these materials. More importantly, military personnel are concerned that long-time exposure to chemical treatments has adverse effects on their health. The proposed work will use the most recent advances in textile technology to build a durable bite-proof textile system that can provide effective protection against vector-borne diseases, with optimized comfort, elimination of chemical usage, and durable mechanical properties for application in soldiers' garments. The work will focus on adapting a predictive model for bite-proof textiles to military specs under different field conditions. A new predictive model that correlates the structure, bite-proof efficiency and strength will first be established. Then it will be further validated and optimized by the manufacturing and evaluation of specific prototypes. The ultimate goal of this research is to use the data collected and final model to create a portfolio of bite-proof textiles with different comfort and mechanical properties for future integration into soldier's garments or other personal protective devices. The outcome is expected to have great potential for military recreational clothes or commercial applications as well.