Breathable dual-layer textile composed of cellulose dense membrane and plasma-treated fabric with enhanced comfort

Abstract

The superiority of dense polymer membranes intended for protective clothing has been well demonstrated in literature. However, the best protection provided by dense membranes may be balanced out by less breathability and retention of liquid sweat on the skin surface, both of which contribute to wearer discomfort. Despite being imperative, the simultaneous investigation of breathability and liquid sweat transfer in dual-layer textiles composed of a dense membrane and a fabric has received less attention. This issue is addressed in the present work through developing dual-layer textiles composed of commercially available as-received fabric with slow water absorption rate and cellulose dense membrane. To this end, three cellulose dense membranes are produced through two different techniques: (1) solution casting of linter/(4-methylmorpholine N-oxide monohydrate (NMMO)/water) and linter/(LiCl/N,N-Dimethylacetamide (DMAc)) solutions, (2) Treatment of dry cast cellulose acetate (CA) solution with NaOH aqueous solution to convert CA dense membrane to cellulose dense membrane. The prepared dense membranes are integrated with fabric to develop dual-layer textiles. It is demonstrated that although the developed dual-layer textiles have acceptable breathability (water vapor transmission rate > 400 g/(m2 day)), however, they perform poorly to transfer liquid sweat from the inner layer (fabric with slow water absorption rate) to the outer layer (cellulose dense membrane) where the transferred sweat is air-dried. Through implementing moisture management test, it is shown that cost-effective and non-destructive treatment of the inner layer by O2 plasma imparts excellent moisture management properties to the produced dual-layer textile. Therefore, it can be said that the developed dual-layer textile may be considered to represent the best compromise between wearer comfort (breathability and liquid sweat transfer) and protection.