Labs for Functional Textiles and Protective Clothing

03/25/2026

"Characterization of Smoke Emissions from Wood and Plastic Combustion Under Controlled Conditions," a new article published in fire, provides a new methodology for reproducible and sustainable smoke simulation and findings that can help with exposure assessment to align equipment needs and operation strategies. Congratulations to the authors - Yulin Wu, Rui Li, Mengying Zhang, Jiaxin Shi, Fan Zhou, Mazyar Etemadzadeh, Md Jakir Hossain, Md Jalal Uddin Rumi, and Guowen Song - for leading this important work.

Find their full work here:

Fire smoke, rich in toxic ultrafine particles and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), poses significant health risks to first responders and vulnerable populations. In this study, a reproducible combustion–smoke simulation platform was developed to mechanistically quantify fire behavior, part...

03/19/2026

Congratulations to Md Jalal Uddin Rumi, Md Jakir Hossain, Yulin Wu, Mazyar Etemadzadeh, Mengying Zhang, Todd Kingston, Rui Li, and Guowen Song on their recent publication, "An Emerging Risk: Hazardous Ultrafine Particles and their Metal–PAH Enriched Emissions from Lithium-Ion Battery Fires" in the Journal of Hazardous Materials. The article adds valuable insight into battery-involved fires and the potential risks from their emissions.

The complete publication is available here for those following this line of research: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942600659X

03/11/2026

Taking a moment this week to spotlight another outstanding contribution from our team. Congratulations to Md Jalal Uddin Rumi, Yulin Wu, Md Jakir Hossain, Mazyar Etemadzadeh, Mengying Zhang, Todd Kingston, Rui Li, and Guowen Song on their newly published study "Wildland–urban interface co-combustion of biomass, synthetic polymeric materials, and lithium-ion batteries generates a new class of ultrafine soot–metal–PAH hybrid particles" in Frontiers in Public Health. Their findings advance our understanding of the emerging risks posed by wildland-urban interface fires to firefighters and nearby communities.

For those interested in the details, the article can be accessed here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1768652/full

03/05/2026

Our lab has had an exciting start to the month, and we are thrilled to highlight this new publication from Yulin Wu, Mengying Zhang, Rui Li, and Guowen Song in Occupational Health! Their article, Understanding and Mitigating Contaminant Exposure in Firefighting: Comprehensive Review of Firefighter PPE on Contamination, Health Risks, and Decontamination Methods, synthesizes important insights into exposure environments, avenues of exposure to contaminants for firefighters, and the current state of decontamination approaches.
You can read the full article here:

Firefighters are exposed to complex combustion products and to contaminants carried on personal protective equipment (PPE). Occupational exposure as a firefighter is classified as carcinogenic. This review summarizes the current evidence on exposure environments, routes of uptake, contamination and....

11/10/2025

Congratulations to Fan Zhou, Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rui Li, Yulin Wu, Dr. Jie Yang, Sixing Yu, Dr. Ali Jannesari, and Dr. Guowen Song for their recent publication in the Textile Research Journal!
To learn more about their paper, "Machine learning models for predicting localized thermal resistance of firefighting gloves: A comparative study," please read their abstract below or their full paper can be found here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00405175251376696

Abstract:
Optimizing thermal comfort for gloves requires precise predictions of localized thermal resistance (Rct), yet traditional experimental methods are costly and limited in capturing complex interactions. This study developed a computational framework employing Bayesian-optimized machine learning models, including multiple linear regression (MLR), decision tree (DT), generalized additive model (GAM), support vector regression (SVR), and deep learning (DL), to predict localized Rct of firefighting gloves. Utilizing 1680 measurements from firefighting gloves, predictive accuracy and stability were evaluated. DL demonstrated the highest predictive accuracy (R² = 0.924690, mean absolute error [MAE] = 0.009970), closely followed by SVR (R² = 0.913098, MAE = 0.011209) and GAM (R² = 0.909959, MAE = 0.011472), whereas DT and MLR exhibited lower accuracy. Response surface analysis revealed that GAM provides consistent and interpretable predictions in sparse data contexts; DL captures detailed, complex interactions but requires careful management of potential overfitting; SVR represents an intermediate choice, balancing nonlinear accuracy with smoothness but still vulnerable to occasional nonphysical predictions in sparse data scenarios. Key predictors were air layer thickness, glove thickness, wind speed, glove section, and surface area. Thermal resistance increased consistently with air layer thickness, whereas higher wind speeds reduced insulation. Predictions highlighted the little finger as the most critical region, with Rct decreasing from 0.145 to 0.112 K m2/W as the wind speed increased from 0 to 2 m/s. Future studies should incorporate experimental validation under realistic firefighting scenarios, expand dataset diversity, and apply physically constrained models to enhance prediction robustness.

11/05/2025

Thank you to the Illinois Fire Service Institute and the Fire Service Women of Illinois for giving us the time and space to share our research with them!

On October 17th and 18th, researchers from ISU's NexGenPPT (Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rui Li, Yulin Wu, Mehmet Sefer, Fan Zhou, and Leslee Weible) and the University of Minnesota's Human Dimensioning Lab (Kyurey Park and Juan Angulo) were able to interact with women firefighters and talk about the research being done at both universities as well as invite them to participate using our newly developed app (see our funded research AI-SAFEHAND for more details) and through having their hands scanned.

10/29/2025

The 13th International Manikin & Modelling Meeting (I3M) & The Clothing and Textile Sciences Research Meeting took place at North Carolina State University on October 15th and 16th. The event brought together researchers to share the latest advancements in thermal properties in clothing, apparel and PPE modeling, ergonomic considerations and practices, and methods for measuring fabric performance.

Dr. Guowen Song represented NexGenPPT at the conference, presenting both an oral presentation and a poster.

The presentation, "Characterizing localized thermal insulation of gloves at the fingertip using a sensor integrated hand manikin and infrared thermography," was a collaborative effort by Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rui Li, Jie Yang, Fan Zhou, Yulin Wu and Dr. Guowen Song, and was featured during the Manikin Thermal Performance Studies session. In addition, the poster "Understanding Glove Manual Performance in Commercial Fishing: Insights from Simulated Wet Testing" authored by Leslee Weible, Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rui Li, and Dr. Guowen Song, highlighted the team's work developing PPE testing methods that simulate the commercial fishing work environment.

10/14/2025

Earlier this year, the NexGenPPT team welcomed members from the Iowa State University Foundation into our lab to show them research endeavors that our team are working on after being moved into our new space in the Human Nutritional Sciences Building. We were able to showcase our work for three of our research areas: 3D scanning for hand and glove dimensioning, smoke exposure testing for firefighter PPE contamination studies, and hand function performance testing. Throughout their visit, the ISU Foundation team worked to capture what our lab can do and what our lab strives for through some additional interviews with lab directors, Dr. Guowen Song and Dr. Rui Li.

Please enjoy the short video that they created for our research lab:

This is "LeBaron Complex Capital Project Update: Textile Science Research Lab" by ISU Foundation on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people…

10/09/2025

Congrats to Md Jalal Uddin Rumi, Yulin Wu, Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rui Li, and Dr. Guowen Song for their new review article "Invisible hazards of ultrafine particles (UFPs) from Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fire smoke as emerging public health risks: A critical review of transformation dynamics from emission sources, exposure pathways, and vulnerable population to WUI fire toxicants" in Science of The Total Environment! Below is the abstract for their article, if you would like to read the full article follow the link at the bottom of this post.

Objective: This review synthesizes atmospheric chemistry, toxicology, and environmental justice to assess public health risks from ultrafine particles (UFPs,

08/12/2025

Bahar Hashemian Esfahani and colleagues published a review article in Textile Progress addressing fundamental limitations in current firefighter hoods and opening new possibilities for safer, higher-performance protective gear that meets the extreme demands of firefighting operations. Alongside Dr. Rui Li, Dr. Mengying Zhang, Dr. Rachel Eike, Mazyar Etemadzadeh, and Dr. Guowen Song, Bahar presents

insights into current protective textile technology with direct applications for firefighter safety. The research addresses the historical shortcomings of traditional designs that left firefighters vulnerable to carcinogenic smoke exposure by addressing advancements in particulate-blocking hoods-new standards set by the National Fire Protection Association. Through rigorous analysis, the team has identified key challenges in balancing protection with wearer comfort, particularly regarding heat stress, mobility restrictions, and ergonomic fit. The study emphasizes the necessity of integrated testing approaches that combine laboratory assessments with real-world performance evaluations, especially concerning hood compatibility with other PPE components like helmets and breathing apparatus. These findings provide valuable insights for PPE manufacturers, fire safety researchers, and policymakers working to develop next-generation protective gear that reduces long-term health risks while optimizing operational performance.

08/12/2025

We are thrilled to congratulate Dr. Saloni Purandare on successfully defending her dissertation, "Development and Characterization of Novel Antimicrobial Nanomembranes Using ε-Poly-L-Lysine and Polyamide-6 for Medical and Protective Textiles," in June 2025.

Dr. Purandare’s groundbreaking research advances the field of functional textiles by developing innovative antimicrobial nanomembranes with potential applications in medical and protective gear. Her work addresses critical challenges in material science, combining the biocompatibility of polyamide-6 with the antimicrobial properties of ε-poly-L-lysine to create safer, more effective textiles.