In this study, the layered nanoclay was employed to impart ultraviolet (UV) protection functionality for electrospinning thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofibrous mats. This study is among the very rare studies which uses Montmorillonite (MMT) clay for UV protection. Due to its known UV protection property, titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was used solely for comparison with MMT clay and as a blend with MMT for investigation of its synergetic effect with nanoclay. The morphology and chemical structure of virgin and nanoclay-loaded nanofibers were characterized via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Incorporation of TiO₂ significantly improved UV protection performance of TPU electrospun nanofibers, as expected. UV protection factor (UPF) of electrospun mats including nanoclay was found as high as that of the ones including TiO₂.Therefore, the study revealed that the clay has a considerable potential for producing nanofibrous layers with UV protection. Such a nanocomposite structure could be potentially employed as a layer in a multilayered technical textile such as tents, sun protective covers for automobiles, blind curtains, etc. This study proposed an eco-friendly and viable alternative to TiO₂ which is a well-known material for its UV protection.

在这项研究中，层状纳米粘土用于为静电纺丝热塑性聚氨酯 (TPU) 纳米纤维垫赋予紫外线 (UV) 保护功能。这项研究是非常罕见的使用蒙脱石 (MMT) 粘土进行紫外线防护的研究之一。由于其已知的紫外线防护性能，二氧化钛 (TiO ₂ ) 仅用于与 MMT 粘土进行比较，并作为与 MMT 的混合物用于研究其与纳米粘土的协同效应。通过扫描电子显微镜 (SEM) 和傅里叶变换红外光谱 (FTIR) 表征原始和纳米粘土负载纳米纤维的形态和化学结构。TiO _{2 的}掺入正如预期的那样，显着提高了 TPU 电纺纳米纤维的紫外线防护性能。发现包含纳米粘土的电纺毡的紫外线防护系数 (UPF) 与包含 TiO ₂的电纺毡的紫外线防护系数 (UPF) 一样高。因此，该研究表明，该粘土具有生产具有紫外线防护功能的纳米纤维层的巨大潜力。这种纳米复合结构有可能用作多层技术纺织品中的一层，如帐篷、汽车防晒罩、百叶窗帘等。这项研究提出了一种环保且可行的 TiO ₂替代品，这是众所周知的其防紫外线的材料。