A Glance at Novel Materials, from the Textile World to Environmental Remediation

Abstract

In the current state of the art, textile products and materials generate a significant environmental impact since they are not managed under a circular economy paradigm. It is urgent to define new sustainable paths in the textiles industry by setting up materials, technologies, processes, and business models to reuse and recycle textiles production waste and End-of-Life textiles. In this direction, taking advantage of textile-related materials, especially from renewable and waste resources, for depollution purposes appears very promising since it enables re-use, but it also supports secondary applications with a high sustainability impact. This review collects and describes possible adsorption, filtration and purification capabilities of (i) various functionalized textiles, (ii) biopolymers constituting the natural fibers (cellulose, keratin, fibroin) and (iii) textile-derived active carbons and biochar, in order to provide a structured framework for the systemic exploitation of the depollution potential of waste textiles. The correlations among the type of textile materials, the physical-chemical treatments, and the characteristics influencing the performances of such materials as decontaminating tools will be underlined.