Abstract
The hydrophilicity of fibers is directly related to the comfort of a fabric and represents one of the most important aspects of a textile. Therefore, polyester (PES) modification has focused on an increase in moisture content and a subsequent improvement of the user’s experience. Based on the glycerol hygroscopic properties, the main objective has been the enhancement of the hydrophilicity of polyester by glycerol treatments. Furthermore, microwave irradiation and alkaline treatment have been applied, in order to increase glycerol adhesion. Treated PES samples were characterized by performing moisture content, negative ion, water diffusion and water vapor resistance analyses. The effect of different treatment conditions such as bath ratio (1/10 or 1/15), temperature (40, 60 or 100 °C), time (2 or 5 min) and microwave radiation intensity (300 or 500 W) was evaluated. The moisture content of treated PES results indicated that by decreasing the bath ratio and increasing the time and temperature the moisture gain can reach almost 14%, which can be easily related to increases in the weight of the fiber. The treatment with alkali was done and led to the highest moisture increase. Treatment with 500 W microwave irradiation led to higher glycerol retention after rinsing. Different experimental conditions were applied to the glycerol-treated PES fabrics, and a clear improvement in moisture content was obtained increasing the comfort. The results were compared with the ones obtained for cotton and wool, where the moisture is higher than non treated PES.
Highlights
The thermophysiological comfort of a garment is determined by the fabric’s air permeability (AP), moisture management and heat transfer properties [1,2]
Taking into account that comfort is not just the moisture content or hydrophilicity, this study focuses on water vapor resistance and on increasing well-being and comfort through the generation of negative ions in the fabric
The moisture content and other comfort properties of PES were assessed and compared with that of cotton (CO) and wool knitted fabric (WO), which are known to be more comfortable than PES (Table 1)
Summary
The thermophysiological comfort of a garment is determined by the fabric’s air permeability (AP), moisture management and heat transfer properties [1,2]. The removal of unnecessary heat and moisture from the body helps to improve the comfort level. In warm and humid environments, higher fabric AP increases comfort [3], which indicates the psychological and physical harmony of humans with their microclimate [4]. The comfort properties of garments depend on the balance between moisture absorption and the sweat wicking capacity of fabrics, and these characteristics are associated with the fabric’s structure, composition and processing. The fabric can be considered a buffer as it absorbs moisture and wicks sweat, thereby transporting moisture away from the body and facilitating evaporation from the outside of the fabric. Sweat wicking capacity can be determined by assessing the wettability of the fabric. The developed pressure forces the sweat to move along the capillaries, resulting in a certain amount of liquid transferred into the fabric [6]
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