A novel approach to investigating frictional electrification and charge decay on woven textile fabrics treated with ionic antistatic and hydrophilic surface finishes

Abstract

The results of a study of charge generation and decay for range of woven fabrics from ring spun cotton yarns, ring spun polyester yarns, and flat continuous filament polyester yarns treated with topical finishes are reported. The topical finishes include commercially available ionic antistatic finishes, one commercially available hydrophilic finish, and a new experimental moisture management finish. The fabrics were rubbed against surface of steel and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE; Teflon®) and their frictional electrification and charge dissipation were monitored. It is shown that fabrics from cotton have a more rapid inherent charge decay than fabrics from polyester. Ionic antistatic finishes are shown to be effective in reducing charge generation and promoting charge decay and this is particularly true for the fabrics made from filament polyester. When commercially available and experimental hydrophilic finishes were applied on fabrics made from filament polyester, less charge was generated and the generated charge decayed quickly compared to the control untreated fabrics. In an attempt to understand the mechanism of charge decay, two probes were used with one placed on the top of the rubbed area and the other placed some distance from the rubbed area. It was found that the generated charge migrated from the rubbed areas to other parts of the sample. This behavior is more pronounced for fabrics treated with hydrophilic and moisture management finishes, which cause the charge to decay exponentially.