Arboviral diseases and malaria transmitted by mosquitoes are major health concerns worldwide responsible for millions of deaths annually. Spatial repellents have been used as preventative measures via direct application to the skin or disposable devices worn outside of clothing. Naturally derived, plant-based repellents are safe, effective alternatives to synthetic repellents and may be applied to disposable substrates including adhesive patches. Many disposables are composed of synthetic petrochemical-based polyester and polypropylene nonwoven fabrics, contributing to growing concern surrounding microplastic pollution. Sustainable and biodegradable substrates including those made from cotton are cost effective and environmentally friendly. Therefore, we explored the utilization of cotton-based substrates for the application of natural spatial and synthetic contact insect repellents. Cotton fibers used in the study were commercially available greige cotton, scoured and bleached greige cotton and reginned greige cotton motes, a value-added byproduct of the ginning process. Synthetic polyester and polypropylene were used for comparison. Thermogravimetric/derivative thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) in combination with modulated differential scanning calorimetry (mDSC) were used to discern vaporization properties of repellents from the substrates. Retention times of repellents on the substrates were analyzed using a Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy–focal plane array detector and compared with the TG/DTG and mDSC data. Mosquito landing assays confirmed the feasibility of using cotton-based substrates treated with plant-based spatial repellents as an effective and environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic materials.

蚊子传播的虫媒病毒疾病和疟疾是全球主要的健康问题，每年造成数百万人死亡。通过直接施用于皮肤或衣服外部的一次性设备，空间驱避剂已被用作预防措施。天然来源的植物基驱虫剂是合成驱虫剂的安全，有效替代品，可应用于包括粘性贴剂的一次性基材。许多一次性用品由合成石油化工基聚酯和聚丙烯无纺布组成，这引起了人们对微塑料污染的日益关注。可持续和可生物降解的基材（包括棉质基材）具有成本效益和环境友好性。因此，我们探索了利用棉质基材作为天然空间和合成接触性驱虫剂的应用。该研究中使用的棉纤维为市售的坯布棉，精练和漂白的坯布棉和精轧的精轧坯棉粉尘，这是轧花过程的增值副产品。合成聚酯和聚丙烯用于比较。热重/导数热重分析（TG / DTG）与调制差示扫描量热法（mDSC）结合使用，可从基材上分辨出驱避剂的汽化特性。使用傅立叶变换红外光谱-焦平面阵列检测器分析了驱虫剂在基材上的保留时间，并与TG / DTG和mDSC数据进行了比较。