Advanced Materials Research Vol. 441

Abstract: Flame retardant fabrics have been broadly used for protective clothing, which have strictly requirements on both flame retardancy and thermal protection. Usually, domestic laundering will be carried out frequently to clean these protective garments. However, little research on the performance durability of this type of fabrics after domestic laundering has been reported. This paper selected fabrics of 8 types of cotton and its blend fibers, which were treated with flame retardants Pyrovatex CP, Proban, CFR-201, SCJ-968 respectively. The damaged length, after flame time, after glow time, TPP value, thermal resistance value, weight, thickness, air permeability and water vapor permeability (WVP) of the samples were measured before and after 15 cycles domestic laundering cycles. Results show that the flame retardancy of the 8 fabrics reduce with launderings as measured by the increase in damaged length and after glow time. The TPP increase probably resulted from the increase in the thickness and thermal resistance of the finished fabrics. Domestic laundering resulted in only a slight change in the comfort properties of the fabrics.

Abstract: Vitamin E microcapsules prepared using spray drying were applied to fabrics in thefinishing processby means of padding, and characterization of microcapsules was studied.Experimental conditions for the textile padding process were based on industrial requirements.Morphologies and core-shell structure of the microcapsules and particle size distribution were studiedusing scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and a particle size analyzer.The effectiveness of textile padding (adherence state of microcapsules on textiles and washingfastness) was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and ultraviolet spectrophotometry. Basedon the present reseach, vitamin E successfully adhered to textiles, and a kind of skin-care product hasbeen developed.

Abstract: Three types of hydrosol including TiO₂ hydrosol, ZnO hydrosoland TiO₂/ZnO compound hydrosol prepared at room temperature by sol-gel technology were applied to cotton fabric by pad-cure-dry finishing process in order to improve UV-protection property. The SEM image showed that all the three types of sol formed a thin layer film on the cotton fiber. The results of UV-protection property tests showed that with the TiO₂ sol and TiO₂/ZnO compound sol, the cotton fabric have better UV-protection property, but the cotton fabric finished by ZnO sol didnt get little UV protection property. The fastness of UV-protection performance by soaping was also researched in this paper. The test results justified that the soaping process after finishing was a very useful and helpful process to improve the UV-protection property. The cotton fabric finished by ZnO sol after 50 times soaping got better UV-protection property than that without soaping. The UV-protection property of cotton fabric finished by TiO₂/ZnO compound sol was also improved dramatically similarly after 50 times soaping. The fabric finished by TiO₂ sol got best UV-protection property in the three types of fabric without soaping and the UV-protection of it after 30 times soaping raised to peak value but decreased with longer soaping times.

Abstract: An anti-UV complex coating based on Ti sol for bombyx silk fabric was prepared. The process included using sols prepared by tetrabutyl titanate hydrolysis. The coating for the samples was prepared using the sol-gel method. Data from WAXD and TGA indicated that the properties of treated fabric showed little change when sol was introduced. SEM analysis was carried out to study the morphology of the fibers. Compared with the original sample, the UPF value of the treated sample increased from 31.99 to 213.09 with a high anti-UV performance.

Abstract: Applying microencapsulation technology which takes menthol and other ingredients as the core material to fabric finishing could give fabrics mint cool feel. And the fabrics treated by finishing agent using β-cyclodextrin as the main component could adsorb odor and emit a faint scent. The test results showed that the fabrics treated by mint cool feel finishing have obvious mints smell and good aroma retaining effect. Compared with the unfinished fabrics, the fabrics treated by the fresh finishing have remarkable anti-odor effect, even after 20 times washing.

Abstract: This work focuses on antibacterial efficacy and cellular toxicity of PET-based hollow fiber with silver particles incorporated (Ag/PET hollow fiber), which was synthesized by differential pressure method. Escherichia coli (E. coli) were used to investigate the antibacterial capability of Ag/PET hollow fiber with antibacterial kinetics experiments. The antibacterial results demonstrated that Ag/PET hollow fiber had an excellent antibacterial property against E. coli and the efficacy was dependent on several aspects including fiber length, weight and silver content. The cytotoxicity of Ag/PET hollow fibers on WI-38 cells was assessed using Methyl Thiazolyl Tetrazolium (MTT) assay, and the results showed no significant toxicity to WI-38 cells. SEM images of WI-38 cells treated by Ag/PET hollow fibers showed that cells morphology was unaltered in the presence of Ag/PET hollow fiber. However, abnormal size, shrinkage and rounded appearance of cells at higher dose suggested slight toxicity of Ag/PET hollow fiber. Combining the antibacterial and cytotoxic results, it was found that there was a certain concentration of silver ions which can achieve a minimization of cytotoxicity and a maximization of antibacterial efficacy.

Abstract: In this paper, four kinds of silk georgettes with different density were chosen as samples. The flame retardant formaldehyde-free vinyl phosphate dimethyl-2-(methacryloyloxyethyl) phosphate (DMMEP) was grafted onto them by graft copolymerization technique. Some tests such as Limiting Oxygen Index (LOI), vertical flammability, wrinkle resistance and color fastness were examined. Through the discussion and analysis of the experiment results, the properties of original and treated fabrics were compared and suggestions were given for the flame retardant process and garment design.

Abstract: In order to investigate the diffusion of disperse dye between substrates and hydrophobic auxiliaries, two different kinds and dosages of water repellent agents were applied to conventional and microdenier polyester by measuring their K/S value, color difference (△E) and extracted absorbance. The results illustrated that irrespective of the kind or of the dosage of water repellent agents, dye migration increased upon the employment of water repellent, and heat treatment will accelerate the dye migration process.

Abstract: In the paper, wool samples were pretreated by [BmiCl ionic liquid, followed by protease. The effect of ionic liquid pretreatment on the enzymatic shrink-resistant finishing of wool fabrics was studied. The results showed that the epicuticle was damaged by pretreatment, and the wettability of wool fabric was improved. These changes of wool surface made a promotional effect on proteolytic reactions. They could remarkably improve the accessibility of protease and thus increasing the efficiency of protease treatment. The weight loss of the sample pretreated with ionic liquid was dramatically increased, and the encouraging shrink-resistance was also achieved after the combination of ionic liquid and protease treatments.

Abstract: Application of citric acid (CA), as cross-linking agent, on grafting β-cyclodextrin (CD) to cotton was studied. Some influence factors on the grafting of β-cyclodextrin, such as the concentration of CA, β-cyclodextrin and catalyst, curing conditions (temperature, time) were discussed. The grafting procedure was to soak the fabric samples in an aqueous solution containing β-CD 60 g/L, citric acid 100 g/L and sodium hypophosphite 30 g/L, then the squeezed samples were dried and cured at 190°C for 4 min. The cotton fabric grafted with β-cyclodextrin and then perfumed with menthol preserved 27.04% menthol after ten days, and its anti-bacterial performance was observed.