[Excerpt] Water is an essential resource for all life forms on this planet. It is also a critical source of anthropogenic social and economic development [1]. Nevertheless, freshwater scarcity is a real issue that is felt worldwide. It is estimated that by the year 2050 around 6 billion people will suffer from potable water scarcity [2]. The depletion of freshwater is a consequence of rapid population growth, c...
Dissertação de mestrado em Técnicas de Caracterização e Análise Química; O desenvolvimento de novos agentes antimicrobianos é um tema muito atual, devido ao aumento contínuo de novos microrganismos multirresistentes. As infeções contraídas por este tipo de microrganismos levam a um aumento da taxa de morbilidade e de mortalidade. Este problema contribui com custos elevadíssimos para a sociedade, devido ao conse...
[Excerpt] Fungal infections, as recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), are among the most worrying challenges for the medical community due to their high incidence, recurrence, and the emergence of resistance to the few available drugs and therapies. The discovery of new molecules with antifungal activity, exhibiting new mechanisms of action and less side effects, thus represents an important step f...
[Excerpt] Introduction Smart textiles have the capability to interact with the surrounding environment and react in different ways, namely in electrical conduction. The conductive properties of these materials are useful in medical, healthcare, and protective clothing.; This research was funded by FEDER funds through the Operational Competitiveness Program– COMPETE, under the projects POCI-01-0247-FEDER-068924,...
[Excerpt] Photonic crystals (PCs) are dielectric materials, capable of controlling the propagation of light due to the photonic bandgap (PBG) and self-assemble in highly organized nano and microstructures. PCs are found in nature and can be used for signaling, communication or camouflage purposes. PCs structural coloration of textiles is ecological relevant due to the inherent considerable reduction of water an...
Nanotechnology is a powerful tool for engineering functional materials that has the potential to transform textiles into high-performance, value-added products. In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the development of functional textiles using metal nanoparticles (MNPs). The incorporation of MNPs in textiles allows for the obtention of multifunctional properties, such as ultraviolet (UV) prot...
The emergence of infectious diseases caused by new pathogens or multidrug-resistant microorganisms has been a global health threat over the last decades. These infections are among the most severe healthcare problems and have been associated with several deaths and heavy economic burdens per year. The interest in the search for new antifungal agents is also increasing in the scientific community due to the appe...
This work aimed at studying the dyeing of cotton fabrics with madder extract using two biomordants, quebracho tree extract (Schinopsis spp.) and laccase. Pre-treatment with quebracho increased the colour strength, washing and UV light fastness, and UV protection, while laccase only shows an increase in the UV light fastness. The application of biomordants together with the metal ones (aluminium or iron salts) l...
The search for new antibiotics is an emergent topic in the scientific community due to the appearance of pathogenic organisms multiresistant to the available drugs and therapy [1]. The worrying increase in infections caused by pathogenic fungi in immunosuppressed patients prompted the search for new antifungal agents with new mechanisms of action and less side effects [2]. The imidazole ring is a crucial scaffo...
Apresentação efetuada na 21th World Textile Conference - AUTEX 2022, em Lodz, Poland, 2022; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), FEDER funds by means of Portugal 2020 Competitive Factors Operational Program (POCI) and the Portuguese Government (OE), project Factor ST+ – grant number POCI-01-0247-ERDF-047124, for the research grants of C.A., M.F., and R.R.; Authors also acknowledge projects: U...