Lamination of Nanofibre Layers for Clothing Applications

Abstract

Nanofibre membranes and nanofibre products represent break-through technology in many fields of industry. They are used for air or liquid filtration, and their unique properties are suitable for many new health products or when manufacturing clothes etc. Their biggest advantage is their high porosity and fineness. On the other hand, the disadvantage of these membranes is the fact that it is not a homogenous material/foil, but a layer of fibres or rather several fibre layers (hereafter we will always use the term nanomembrane). This structure has a very negative impact on some of its properties i.e. strength, abrasion resistance, pressure resistance etc. This work introduces a 2-layer-laminate and 3-layer laminate where one of the layers is made of nanofibres with a view to their use in the manufacturing of clothes for sport and outdoor activities. The nanofibre membrane laminate must protect the wearer from weather conditions like rain and snow and, at the same time, enable transferring of liquid moisture from the wearer’s body to the outside environment. Using lamination, we can connect the fine nanofibre membrane to a resilient textile material (knitted, woven or non-woven). This stronger textile material protects the more fragile nanomembrane from the outside environment (abrasion, friction etc.) while not diminishing its good comfort properties, like being windproof, waterproof and having good steam-permeability. The result of this work is a laminate with a high level of steam permeability, with minimum air permeability and a water column higher than 5000 mm. The tests carried out proved that during repeated washing cycles no delamination occurred and hydrostatic resistance decreased by approximately 20%.