Increased Comfort of Polyester Fabrics

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.

Formation and Characterization of Oregano Essential Oil Nanocapsules Applied onto Polyester Textile

“…Hydrophilicity is directly related to comfort, which is one of the important aspects of textile fabrics. Glycerin has wetting properties and can significantly increase the hydrophilic index [ 28 , 32 ].…”

“…Microencapsulated phase change materials have been widely used to enhance the thermal comfort of clothing [ 27 ]. Polyester (PES) is a highly hydrophobic textile with a moisture content of approximately 0.4% and a very low comfort level [ 28 ]. Therefore, hydrophilicity is a key parameter of the comfort of the fabric [ 26 ] and enhance emulsion impregnation onto textiles.…”

“…Therefore, hydrophilicity is a key parameter of the comfort of the fabric [ 26 ] and enhance emulsion impregnation onto textiles. PES fabric treated with glycerol was obtained, showing a significant improvement in moisture retention capacity and promoting comfort sensation [ 28 ]. In this research, glycerol-modified nanocapsules [ 22 ] were applied to PES fabrics, and then the moisture content was evaluated for treated and non-treated PES textiles.…”

Preparation of fatty acid-amino diol condensate and its utilization as a durable nonionic softener for PAN fabrics

“…However, most of the synthetic fibres, like PAN fibres, have the disadvantages of being easily caught by fire, having low moisture regain, and being susceptible to accumulation of electrostatic charges [ 4 ]. Accordingly, extensive research work has been directed towards improving the performance, comfort, and appearance attributes of man-made fibres [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”