Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Call to order and introduction by Dr. Yiqi Yang (2006 Chair of S1026 Committee) at 1:00 pm on October 30, 2006. Comments from Dr. Robert Shulstad, Administrative Advisor: Formula funding from the USDA for projects is becoming more difficult and the new funding will be in the form of competitive grants. There is some support in Congress to build the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program NRICGP pool up to $1 billion. Dr. Shulstad recommends that faculty agree to become reviewers of the NRICGP proposals for at least one year to make them more knowledgeable of the requirements and processes for successful proposals, even though they would not be eligible to submit proposals while serving as a reviewer. Dr. Ramkumar noted that in his opinion Biofuels should be split from the Biobased Materials and Biofuels 71.2 NRICGP so that researchers proposing fiber research would have more opportunity for funding, even if a smaller percentage was allocated to Biomaterials. That sentiment was widely shared among the committee but it was agreed that the case for this would have to be made as appropriate by individuals rather than as a group. Station Reports from Technical Committee Members: Colorado State University, University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Tennessee, University of Wisconsin, Texas Tech University, and University of Arkansas. Minutes from the previous meeting Approval of minutes of November 19, 2005. Motion to approve by Dr. Sarmadi and seconded by Dr. Leonas, motion approved unanimously. Discussion of new project Small groups met and planned collaboration in terms of sharing samples, performing analyses unique to their laboratory and developing cooperative projects. Recognition/Acknowledgement Dr. Ramaswamy has moved from Kansas State University to become the Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Perdue University and may not have as much involvement in her research in the near future. Dr. Bllie Collier has moved from The University of Tennessee to become the Dean of the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University. Dr. Leonas was congratulated for being nominated for the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship at The University of Georgia. Dr. Ramkumar was congratulated for being recognized by the Texas Tech Board of Regents for his development of the Nonwoven Decontamination Wipe by the U.S. Army. Dr. Yang was congratulated for his innovative research featured on the internet for producing nonwovens from chicken feathers and from rice straw. Dr. Ramkumar reported on the most successful conference he organized through Texas Tech University in Coimbatore, India on Advances in Fibrous Materials, Nonwoven and Technical Textiles, during August 7-9, 2006 with honorary sponsorships from INDA and AATCC. Mr. Kanti Jasani represented AATCC in India and wrote about the conference in the October 2006 issue of AATCC Review. Dr. Kumar also noted that in the Second International Conference in Coimbatore in July 2005 Dr. Wadsworth was the Plenary Speaker. Dr. Ramkumar also noted that he is the co-organizer of the first INDA Nonwovens Conference in Mumbai, India in October 2007. Dr. Yang congratulated the excellent work and science of the research presented at the meeting. Dr. Leonas was recognized for the local arrangements and for her excellent work in cooperation with Dr. Ramaswamy in the final editing of the new proposal. Election of 2007 Officers The Nomination Committee proposed the following officers: Chair  Dr. Larry Wadsworth Secretary  Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar Both proposed officers were unanimously accepted. Annual Report and Final Project Report for S-1002 The annual report for S-1002 is due within 10 days of the technical committee meeting and each participant was requested to send an electronic copy as soon as possible to Dr. Wadsworth to enable him to compile the report. The final project report for S-1002 is due within 30 days of the committee meeting and each participant was requested to send an electronic copy of the final 5-year report submitted to their university. Drs. Sarmadi and Warnock agreed to help Dr. Wadsworth in compiling the report and Dr. Leonas agreed to review the report before submission. Concluding remarks by Dr. Schulstad Dr. Schulstad noted that the meeting had been highly productive and reiterated that federal funding will become more competitive. He again stressed the benefits of serving as a reviewer for proposals and noted that collaboration in research, especially cross-discipline cooperation was especially important. Next Annual Meeting: October 1, 2007 in Charleston, SC. This will be in conjunction with the 2007 AATCC IE&C at the Frances Marion Hotel (October 2-4, 2007). Meeting adjourned at 12:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Larry Wadsworth 2006 Secretary

Objective 1: To develop value-added products from renewable and recyclable resources. Development of kenaf value-added products for textiles and crafts. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville reported on two projects using cotton/kenaf blended yarns produced by Mississippi State. The colorfastness of reactive and direct dyes on kenaf and cotton fibers and 50/50 cotton/kenaf yarns before and after laundering was studied. Lignin removal and carding were necessary for the kenaf fibers while no preparation was needed for the blended yarns. The fibers and yarns were dyed with Procion Red MX 305 (reactive dye) and Diazol C 380 Basic Red (direct dye) following manufacturers guidelines. Dyeing was performed in an Ahiba Texomat dye machine that provided a circulating bath at a constant specified temperature. Data analyses utilized ANOVA and Fisher's LSD to determine differences between the L, a, b values before and after 1, 2 and 3 launderings in an Atlas Launder-o-meter. Results showed that the kenaf fibers were consistently the most colorfast followed by the cotton fibers and the cotton/kenaf blended yarns, respectively. Overall, the reactive dye produced the best colorfastness results. In association with Margaret Roach Wheeler, an international American Indian fashion designer, the 50/50 cotton/kenaf yarns were used to create a Mandan Sacred Pole exhibited in a London fashion gallery. Historically, this pole stood in front of the Mandan lodges to ward off evil. The bark was stripped from the pole and hung with either personal clothing or animal skins and skulls. A six-harness loom was used to weave the fabric designed by Wheeler. Ground lichens with an alum/ferrous sulfate mordant was used to dye some of the yarns to create the border and design interest. Fabric was raveled to produce long hanging fringe on each end of the fabric. A basting stitch holds the hood in place, but can be removed so that the fabric can be used as a table runner. Biobased composites for auto interior application. This study was conducted by Louisiana State University (LSU) in cooperation with the USDA Southern Regional Research Center on the biobased nonwoven composites made from cotton, kenaf, and hemp fibers for acoustical insulation in automotives. The uniform web structure of the nonwovens was formed using carding and needle-punching techniques. To enhance the flame retardant performance of the composites, a nondurable flame retardant solution was applied to treat these experimental nonwovens and the oxygen index method ASTM D 2863-00 was used for the evaluation of the composite flame retardancy. The nonwoven acoustical properties in terms of sound absorption and sound transmission loss were measured using the B&K instruments. The research results indicated that the Cotton/PP nonwoven composite had superior performance in sound absorption and sound insulation compared to the commercial foam padding products selected in this study. For the flame retardant performance, there was no difference between the experimental nonwovens and commercial foams. The nondurable flame retardant treatment helped enhance the flame retardancy of the kenaf/PP and hemp/PP nonwovens most significantly. Regenerated bagasse cellulose fiber. An initial experiment in the conversion of raw bagasse into regenerated cellulose fiber was completed at LSU. A monofilament bagasse fiber was produced. The processing steps for this conversion included bagasse cleaning, delignification and pulp-making, cellulose solution preparation, and fiber spinning. The processing techniques used in this research had two major advantages. First, the method for making the bagasse cellulose solution was environmentally friendly. The cellulose solvent could be recycled for reuse all the time. There were no hazardous chemical disposals. Second, the procedure of dissolving the bagasse pulp enabled additions of different nanoparticles to tune properties of the derived cellulose polymer. This provided an engineering approach for enhancing the ultimate properties of the regenerated bagasse cellulose fiber. The regenerated bagasse cellulose fiber was compared with regenerated wood cellulose fiber and nanoparticle/cellulose fibers in terms of mechanical strength and elongation. The research results indicated that the tensile strength of the regenerated bagasse cellulose fiber was considerably lower than that of the regenerated wood cellulose fiber but the elongation seemed consistent between these two fibers. It was also shown that adding a small amount of the nano materials to compound with the celluloses helped to increase the cellulose tensile strength but reduce the extensibility. Molecular modeling to explain how the blending of L and D isomers affects hydrolysis resistance of poly(lactide). The University of Nebraska-Lincoln used molecular modeling to explain how the blending of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) and poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) affects the resistance of poly(lactide) (PLA) to hydrolysis. Amorphous PLLA/PDLA blends were created using molecular modeling, and the minimum potential energy of the blends before and after hydrolysis were obtained. The 50/50 blend has the greatest resistance to hydrolysis, which agrees with past experiments and is due to its having stronger hydrogen-bonding and dipole-dipole interactions than pure PLLA or PDLA. This is based on the 50/50 blend having more of these interactions and shorter average lengths for the hydrogen-bonds and dipole-dipole interactions compared to pure PLLA and PDLA. Hydrogen-bonding possibly has a greater effect than the dipole-dipole interactions on the resistance to hydrolysis. The change in potential energy for hydrolysis decreases linearly with increasing % PLLA or % PDLA from 0 to 50% Preparation and characterization of nonwoven materials based on biobased materials. This cooperation between LSU and the USDA Southern Regional Research Center from New Orleans, LA (Dr. Dharnid V. Parikh) allowed the preparation of biodegradable nonwoven composites made of bagasse and cotton fibers and bio-derived polyesters (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHA). Durable fire retardant formula (containing phosphorus for fire retarding and melamine formaldehyde for crosslinking of cellulose) and non-durable, washable (phosphorus or boron containing, without crosslinker) fire retardant formulations have been applied. Biobased plasticizers (esters of citric and aconitic acids) have been used for lowering the crystallinity of biobased polyesters. The foreseen applications are mainly in buildings and auto industries. Fire retarding efficiency has been assessed by determining the oxygen index according to current standard methods. Mechanical and thermal properties have been investigated and reported. Use of wood fibers and polymers for preparation of stable sandwich-type materials. This project has been developed through the cooperation between the LSU School of Human Ecology and the LSU Department of Renewable Resources (Dr. Qinglin Wu and Dr. John Z. Lu). Short wood fibers have been blended with synthetic polymers (PVC, polyolefins) and the composition was pressed to obtain laminate products of variable thickness. Thermal transitions, wettability and mechanical properties were investigated. Preparation of biobased plasticizers for fibers and polymer industry. The growing concerns about phthalates toxicity in consumer products made of PVC have led to a search at LSU for alternatives that would not elicit the same public health concerns. Investigations continued from 2005 to use esters of bio-derived citric and aconitic acid as alternatives to phthalate esters. Polyhydroxyalkanoates have been added to PVC as potential fiber-forming polymeric materials to be plasticized by these bioderived alternatives. Objective 2. To develop bioprocessing and related new technologies for textile applications. New technologies for digital textile printing. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln studied the possibilities of using UV absorbers to improve lightfastness of inkjet prints. Up to 1-class increase of AATCC lightfastness was obtained by adding a UV absorber onto a printed fabric. This means that a designer, an artist or a textile/apparel producer can double the fading resistance of inkjet printed textiles to light by a simple treatment. Both water soluble and insoluble UV absorbers with benzophenone structures were examined. The effects of UV absorbers, their concentrations and application conditions on lightfastness improvement of reactive inkjet prints were reported. Digital textile printing. Researchers at Southern University, Baton Rouge conducted studies to determine optimum conditions for pre-treatment that will lead to the best color depth of digitally printed cotton fabrics. The study determined the effect of padder roller speed and roller pressure on the color of digitally printed cotton fabrics. Single layers of double-knit 100% cotton fabric were padded at speeds of 20, 40, and 60 rpm and pressure levels of 5, 15, 40, 60, and 70 psi using a 36 wide padder. The fabrics were printed using reactive dyes. A rainbow print containing individual one inch stripes of cyan, yellow, magenta and black (CYMK) was used. The print also contained measurable areas of red, pink, violet and green. Results indicated that the optimum conditions for padding were a roller pressure of 20 psi and roller speed of 40rpm. Enzymatic treatment of wool and specialty hair fibers. This study was conducted at Kansas State University. This study evaluated the efficiency of enzymes (xylanase, pectinase, savinase, and resinase) in scouring wool, (merino and rambouillet) and specialty hair fibers (llama, alpaca, mohair and camel), in comparison with control treatments with hot water, and conventional soap. Various physical, chemical, and structural properties of the treated and untreated fibers were evaluated. Xylanase, and pectinase were found to clean the fibers as efficiently as soap, but without causing any physical damage to the fibers. Resinase was however, not an efficient scouring agent. Enzymatic treatment of loomstate flax to improve wicking and dyeing performance. This study was conducted at Colorado State University in which a loomstate flax fabric was treated with the enzymes cellulase and pectinase at recommended conditions of pH and temperature. Reaction conditions were further optimized by varying the enzyme concentration, agitation speeds and duration of treatment. Following enzymatic treatment the comfort property of the fabric was measured via the rate of water evaporation. Subsequently, the fabric was dyed and dyeing properties such as rate of wicking and color yield were evaluated. The comfort and dyeing properties were simultaneously compared with a sodium hydroxide treated fabric. Results showed that enzymatically treated samples possessed excellent water evaporation behavior suggesting effective removal of hydrophobic impurities and probable occurrence of cracks and interfibrillar splitting of fibers. Furthermore, it was shown that cellulose hydrolysis probably creates additional hydroxyl groups that are then available for hydrogen bond formation with a direct dye thereby resulting in either comparable or higher K/S values for enzyme treated fabrics. Optimal conditions for enzymatic treatment were shown to be 9 ml/L enzyme concentration for 2 hours at an agitation rate of 50 rpm. Objective 3 - To develop and evaluate textile systems for protective and medical applications. Effect of pre-wetting facemasks on filtration efficiency. The potential for occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B, has received much attention in recent years. Healthcare organizations on a national and international level have developed guidelines and standards for health care workers to minimize risks of exposure. Use of protective apparel is a key factor in these recommendations. At the University of Georgia, the impact of pre-wetting the face masks on the outside or the inside to simulate conditions that might occur during the normal use of the mask was studied. The variables included facemasks, side exposed, liquids, time delay between liquid application and testing, and amount of liquid. Three facemasks were selected for evaluation. The first was a molded rayon and polypropylene blend with acrylic resin binder; the second was a 3 -ply, pleated blended cellulose fiber with polyester and polypropylene; and the third was a 4-ply, pleated polypropylene, polyester, cellulose, polyethylene with acrylic adhesive. These facemasks had previously been evaluated and the properties of weight, thickness, pore size, repellency, resistance to liquids and bacterial filtration efficiency were determined. The liquid applied to the inside was physiological saline, and on the outside physiological saline and synthetic blood were used. For each facemask, three amounts of liquid were applied to the face or interior part of the mask in an aerosol form. The quantities applied were 0.22ml, 0.66ml, and 1.24ml (+/- .04 ml). Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE) was measured at four time intervals after the application of the liquids and compared to a control facemask (one that had not been pre-wet). Time between application and evaluation were 0, 10, 30 and 60 minutes. Results showed that the pre-wetting did influence the BFE of the face masks. There appeared to be differences due to the face masks, the liquid, the time delay and the amount of liquid applied. The data are currently being analyzed. Improvement of filtration efficiency and protection of facemasks. Further work has been done on cotton-comfortable multi-ply face mask (FM) fabrics which were developed at The University of Tennessees Textiles and Nonwovens Development Center (TANDEC). These FM fabrics have a repellent finished outer spunbond (SB) polypropylene (PP) layer, a middle layer of electrostatically charged (EC) melt blown (MB) PP, and a face side of a cotton-rich nonwoven. The EC MB PP layer effectively filters out aerosols and particulate containing bacteria and viruses, thereby protecting both the wearer and other personnel in the environment. In addition, a cotton-rich nonwoven layer on the body side provides the aesthetics and comfort of cotton, and also better retains antibacterial finish for neutralizing any microbes that penetrate the EC filter media. Electrostatic charging developed by Tsai and Wadsworth (U.S. Patents 5,441,550 and 5,686,050) of MB PP filter media resulted in filtration efficiency (FE) to 0.1 ¼m NaCl of 80-86% and in bacterial filtration efficiency to Staphyloccus aureus bacteria (BFE) values of 98.1-99.6% compared to non-charged FM, which had only 38% FE to 0.1 ¼m NaCl and an unsatisfactory BFE of 94.3%. Likewise, viral filtration efficiency (VFE) values of the charged FM were 99% or greater. FMs which were given antimicrobial (AM) treatments on the cotton side and either fluorochemical (FC) only or FC plus AM on the outer SB side showed 99.99+% kill rate of bacteria after exposure during the BFE test compared to 63% reduction when no protective finishes were applied to FM with a 30 g/m2 100% cotton hydroentangled inner layer. However another control sample with EC MB filter media and with no finish and an inner layer of cotton-surfaced nonwoven (CSN) with 13 g/m2 of 60% cotton/40% PP on 12 g/m2 SB PP had a false positive kill rate of 99.99+% as well, possibly indicating that electret charges may also kill bacteria. The testing of other non-finished FMs with and without charged MB media gave mixed results in regards to charged medias effectiveness in killing bacteria, warranting further study. It was also shown that if the outside and inside layers of FM laminate were first given protective finishes and then laminated with non-charged MB PP media, the MB filter media in the laminates was effectively electrostatically charged without the finishes on the outer layers interfering with charging, resulting in average FEs to 0.1¼m NaCl ranging from 95.89%-98.58%. This allows much flexibility concerning processing steps in finishing, laminating and electrostatic charging of the FM laminates. Plasma-enhanced synthesis of quaternary ammonium groups for antibacterial surfaces. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin have developed an attractive approach to develop stable and robust antimicrobial surfaces with no residual toxicity by covalently implanting polycation-type structures on organic and inorganic materials. The focus of the work has been to generate surface layers that kill bacteria on contact by using low pressure, non-equilibrium plasma (LP-NEP)-enhanced synthesis. The work has developed a step-by-step grafting of various reactive groups to synthesize quaternary ammonium functionalities by plasma polymerization and subsequent chemical derivatization. The plasma thin film deposition on filter paper and stainless steel (SS) substrates was done in a parallel plate, capacitively coupled cylindrical reactor equipped with 40 kHz and 13.56 MHz RF power supply with pulsing capability. The SS substrates were pretreated with O2 and hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) plasmas to form an intermediate layer that stabilizes the top bioactive structure to be deposited. The cellulose substrates were directly used. The high densities of reactive nitrogen containing functionalities are deposited using ethylene diamine (ED), acrylonitrile (AN), and acetonitrile (AcN) plasmas at various conditions (RF power frequency: 40 kHz or 13.56 MHz; continuous-wave or pulsed plasma modes). Ethylene Diamine (ED) plasma was found to deposit films with highest concentrations of reactive nitrogen functionalities (around 35% nitrogen surface concentration), primarily consisting of amine and imine groups. These films are covalently attached and do not delaminate during washing with water or acetone in an ultrasonicator. The quaternization of plasma-deposited surface amines was done by a subsequent ex-situ reaction with hexyl bromide, and further methylated with methyl iodide. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to determine and confirm the surface chemistry and the nature of functional groups at all steps in the process. The evaluation of antifouling ability of the functionalized surfaces was carried out using standard colony counting procedures on stainless steel at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and on filter paper at the University of Georgia. Compared to unmodified SS, quaternized SS substrates showed a 3 log decrease in Listeria monocytogenes attachment at 24 h contact time. In case of filter paper samples, it was found that the modified paper decreased the growth of Staphylococcus aureus by 99%. The effect of molecular architecture of the chemical groups on the surface is being studied by changing the length of alkyl chain used in ex situ reaction. This will yield the mechanisms to develop antimicrobial surfaces with optimal activity. Also, gram negative bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae will be used to evaluate the modified surfaces. Electrospinning of hyaluronic acid nanowebs and preclinical trials in wound healing. This project was developed through the cooperation of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design, Veterinary Medicine and Mechanical Engineering departments at Kansas State University. Hyaluronic acid was successfully electrospun using the appropriate ecofriendly and biocompatible solvent systems to produce nanowebs. These nanowebs were then tried in a pre-clinical study in wound healing experiments in pigs. A spin length of 2.5 cm and an applied voltage of 15 Kv were the best parameters for electrospinning the nanofibers. Although a flow rate of 0.1 ml/hr produced finest nanofibers, but considering that the rate of production was quite slow and could be increased by 5 times and consequently the time to produce the nanofiber wound dressings could be reduced to one fifth, the flow rate of 0.5 ml/hr was considered as the most viable and efficient option to produce nanofiber wound dressings. The air permeability of Hyaluronic acid nanofiber dressing was very much higher than that of Vaseline gauze dressing with the same cotton backing cloth. Degree of crystallinity of Hyaluronic acid nanofibers was found to be 21%. According to the report of a histopathologist, it can be concluded that the HA nanofiber wound dressings were the best type of dressing out of the five types of dressings compared. As per the assessment based on the photographs, it was found that the HA nanofiber wound dressing was better than Band-Aid, solid hyaluronic acid, vaseline gauze dressing, but it was not statistically better than the silver dressing at 95% confidence level. Objective 4: To develop and evaluate textiles with enhanced resistance (or susceptibility) to environmental degradation. Evaluation of long term performance of a selection of innovative materials marketed to quilters. Accelerated light and heat aging was carried out on the selected products to determine whether or not these commercial products contribute to discoloration or degradation over time. It was shown that fusible battings are the only commercial product acceptable for quilts intended as heirlooms or for museum collections. All adhesive sprays except one were associated with significant yellowing or strength losses following light and heat aging. Marking pens resulted in significant discoloration unless removed by immersion in water at the completion of the quilting project. If so-called eraser pens were used to remove the marking pen marks, the eraser formulation left a residue that led to significant discoloration when quilt prototypes were subjected to accelerated heat or light aging. This suggests that quilters should use marking pens only if they immediately launder or soak in water their newly completed quilts.

Doyal, Melanie D. and Mary M. Warnock. 2006. Colorfastness properties of reactive and direct dyed cotton and kenaf fibers and cotton/kenaf yarns.http://www.cwu.edu/~fandcs/fcsea/AAFCS%20abstracts.html Doyal, Melanie D. and Mary M. Warnock. 2006. Colorfastness properties of reactive and direct dyed cotton fibers. Cotton Report Series. Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. (in press). Chen, Y., L. Sun, I. Negulescu, Q. Wu, and G. Henderson. 2005. Comparative Study of Hemp Fiber for Nonwoven Composites. Journal of Industrial Hemp, in press. Chen, Y., I. Negulescu, L. Sun, N. Jiang, X. Zhang, and D. V. Parikh. Acoustical and Flame Retardant Performance of Biobased Nonwovens as Auto Interior Materials. Proceedings of Techtextil Symposium North America, March 28-30, 2006, Atlanta, GA. Parikh, D.V., Chen, Y., Sachinvala, N.D., and Sun, L. Sound Dampening by Velour Nonwoven Systems in Automobiles. AATCC Review, 2006, 6(8), 40-44. D. V. Parikh, N. D. Sachinvala, Y. Chen, L. Sun, G. Bhat, and S. Ramkumar. Acoustic Properties of Environmentally Benign Automotive Natural Fiber Composites. AATCC Review, 2006, 6(1), 43-48 Yang, Y., and Naarani, V., Improvement of the lightfastness of reactive inkjet printed cotton, Dyes and Pigments In press. Karst, D., Yang, Y, and Tanaka, G. An Explanation of Increased Hydrolysis of the -(1,4)-Glycosidic Linkages of Grafted Cellulose Using Molecular Modeling. Polymer, 47(18), 6464-6471(2006). Karst, D., and Yang, Y. Molecular modeling study of the resistance of PLA to hydrolysis based on the blending of PLLA and PDLA, Polymer, 47(13), 4845-4850 (2006). Karst, D., and Yang, Y. Potential advantages and risks of nanotechnology for textiles, AATCC Review, 6(3), 44-48(2006). Yang, Y., Naarani, V., Thillainayagam, V., and Reddy, N., Effects of printhouse humidity and temperature on quality of ink jet printed cotton, silk and nylon fabrics, Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, 50(2), 181-186(2006). Yang, Y., Han, S., Fan, Q., and Ugbolue, S.C., Nanoclay and modified nanoclay as sorbents for anionic, cationic and nonionic dyes, Textile Research Journal, 75(8), 622-627(2005). Sarkar, A.K., & Etters, J.N. (2006). The use of polyacrylamide as an auxiliary in water repellent finishing. Colourage, 53(9), 45-48. Shen, Hongqing and Leonas, Karen K, Repellent Finishing and Layering Order Studies of Fluid Resistance of Surgical Face Masks, AATCC Review, Volume 6, No. 9, September 2006, pp 61-64. Shen, Hongqing and Leonas, Karen K., Study of Repellent Finish on Filtration Ability of Surgical Face Masks, International Nonwovens Journal, Volume 14, No. 4, 2005, pp 17 - 26. Leonas, K.K. & Shen, H. Barrier Properties of Medical Face Masks: The Influence of Repellent Finish and Layering Order on the Filtration Ability and Fluid Resistance of Face Masks, Tandec Conference 2006. Sarmadi, M. & Leonas, K.K. Antibacterial Surfaces Using Plasma-Enhanced Coating/Functionalization, Tandec Conference 2006. Lee, Y. E. and L. C. Wadsworth, Process Property Studies of Melt Blown Thermoplastic Polyurethane Polymers for Protective Apparel, International Nonwovens Journal, 2-9, Winter 2005. Namwamba, G.W. and Dixon, D. L. (2006). The effect of roller speed and fabric layers during padding on shade depth of digitally printed cotton fabrics. Paper presented at the Association of Research Directors 2006 Conference. Atlanta, GA. Namwamba, G.W. and Dixon, D. L. (2006). Integrating 3-D Body Scanning, Digital Textile Printing and Other Digital Technologies for Mass Customization. Abstract published in the proceedings of the 2006 Association of Research Directors Conference, Atlanta, GA. Ioan I. Negulescu, Yan (Jonathan) Chen, Xiaoqun Zhang, Michael Saska, Liangfeng Sun, Gita Ramaswami and Dharnidhar Parikh, Fire Retarded Biobased Non-Woven Composites, 2006 Beltwide Cotton Conferences Ninth Nonwovens Symposium, San Antonio, TX, Jan 5-6, 2006 (CD-ROM). I. Negulescu, J. Chen, X. Zhang, N. Jiang, L. Sun, and D. V. Parikh. Flame Retarded Biobased Nonwoven Composites Prepared Entirely from Annual Plants, 2006 International Nonwoven Technical Conference, September 25-28, Houston, Texas (CD-ROM). Nicholas Gil, Ioan Negulescu, and Michael Saska. Evaluation of the Effects of Bio-Based Plasticizers on Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Poly(Vinyl Chloride. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 102 (2), 1366-73 (2006). John Z. Lu, Qinglin Wu, Ioan I. Negulescu, and Yan Chen, The Influences of Fiber Feature and Polymer Melt Index on Mechanical Properties of Sugarcane Fiber/Polymer Composites, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 102, 5607-5619 (2006) Val Yachmenev, Ioan Negulescu and Chen Yan, Thermal Insulation Properties of Cellulosic-Based Nonwoven Composites, Journal of Industrial Textiles, 36:1, 73-86 (2006). Das, Trina, and Gita N. Ramaswamy, Enzyme Treatment of Wool and Specialty Hair Fibers, Textile Research Journal, 76:2, 126  133 (2006). Wadsworth, L. C. and P. P. Tsai, Enhancement of Face Masks with Electret Filter Media and Protective Finishes for Safety from Biological Threats, AATCC Symposium on Innovations in Medical, Protective, and Technical Textiles, Cary, NC, February 1-2, 2006 (CD ROM). Wadsworth, L. C. and Y. E. Lee, Polymer-Laid Thermoplastic Polyurethanes for Protective Apparel, 2006 Beltwide Cotton Conferences, Utilization Nonwovens Conference, San Antonio, TX, January 5-6, 2006 (CD ROM).