Abstract:

Significance Polyethylene (PE) fiber has established itself as a critical material in the field of medical protection by virtue of its unique combination of high specific strength, intrinsic hydrophobicity, and scalability in manufacturing. The frequent occurrence of public health events and increasing demands for occupational safety have further highlighted the urgent need for high-performance protective materials that balance effective barrier properties, comfort, and environmental durability. However, the inherent biological inertness and non-polar surface of PE limit its functionality in active protection, such as inherent antimicrobial activity. Therefore, developing functionalized PE fibers, especially with enhanced and durable antimicrobial properties, is of great scientific and industrial importance. This review systematically explores modification strategies and application advances, aiming to provide fundamental insights for the development of next-generation medical protective materials. Additionally, it discusses key bottlenecks in durability and manufacturability and outlines future directions toward greener, safer, and scalable functionalization pathways for practial application.

Progress Significant progress has been made in both intrinsic functionalization during fiber spinning and surface modification. Melt spinning, meltblowing, spunbonding, and flash released spinning processes have been optimized to produce PE-based materials with adjustable fiber diameter, pore structure, and barrier performance, meeting requirements for filtration, liquid resistance, and moisture vapor transmission. In particular, flash-spun PE fabrics exhibit unique microfiber membrane network structures, offering high barrier properties and low-linting. In order to impart antimicrobial functionality, researchers have incorporated active agents such as metal nanoparticles (e.g., Ag, Cu) and organic antimicrobial compounds into PE by blending or in-situ composite spinning. Simultaneously, surface modification techniques, including plasma treatment, chemical grafting, and coating with antimicrobial layers, have been adopted to enhance surface activity and introduce biocidal motifs without compromising bulk properties. These modifications significantly improve the ability to inhibit microbial growth, adding an essential active protective layer to the inherent passive barrier function. Moreover, emerging approaches integrate multiple functions in one step, improving process compatibility and durability. Greater attention is also being paid to uniform dispersion, controlled release, and maintaining comfort, supporting translation to medical protective fabrics.

Conclusion and Prospect Despite promising advances, challenges remain in achieving strong interfacial bonding of functional agents, long-term durability under repeated washing and mechanical wear, and scale production without compromising performance or cost-performance ratio. Future efforts should focus on designing multifunctional modification strategies that combine enhanced antimicrobial performance with other desirable properties such as comfort, biodegradability, and smart response capabilities. The development of novel antimicrobial agents with high efficiency and low toxicity, along with advanced spinning and finishing technologies that enable uniform and stable functionalization, has attracted the attention of researchers. In particular, greater emphasis should be placed on optimizing the compatibility between functional additives and the polyethylene matrix, as well as establishing reliable evaluation protocols that reflect real-use scenarios in medical protection. Standardized testing of wash resistance, abrasion resistance, and potential functional leaching will be essential for comparing materials across studies and guiding product development. Interdisciplinary collaboration is crucial to accelerating the practical application and transformation of functional polyethylene fibers, and will provide a material foundation for building a more efficient and reliable global public health protection system.

Key words: fiber material, polyethylene, antimicrobial, spinning process, medical protective material, functional fiber, antimicrobial fiber, protective clothing