Moisture Flow through Blended Fabrics – Effect of Hydrophilicity

Abstract

Moisture flow through blended material is a complex phenomenon. Clothing should possess good water vapour as well as liquid moisture transmission property, for providing the thermophysiological clothing comfort. The clothing should take up the moisture from the skin as well as transmit it to the atmosphere. Higher hydrophilicity of a material is known for good absorption, but how it really helps to transmit the moisture, has been studied in the present work. Polyester and viscose have been chosen as the blending fibers and 8 fabrics with different blend proportions were developed. Water vapour transmission of the fabrics was measured using the PERMETEST. Liquid water transmission property of the fabrics was examined using a gravimetric inplane wicking tester and a vertical wicking tester. From the experimental result it has been observed that water vapour permeability and absorbency of the material increases with the increase in number of hydrophilic group in the material, but it has an adverse effect on the liquid moisture transmission behavior of the material. The vertical as well as horizontal wicking of the material decreases with the increase in viscose proportion in the polyester/viscose blended fabrics.

Wicking and drying properties of conventional ring- and vortex-spun cotton yarns and fabrics

“…This result may be attributed to the relatively higher porosity values of the fabrics knitted from finer yarns. If the porosity increases, water entrapment by the pores also increases (Das, Das, Kothari, Fanguiero, & Araujo, 2009). With regard to yarn type, the experimental data revealed that the fabrics knitted from vortex spun yarns had generally lower water absorbency rate when compared to the fabrics knitted from ring-spun yarns.…”

Microcellulose particles for surface modification to enhance moisture management properties of polyester, and polyester/cotton blend fabrics

“…Many researchers investigate the mechanism of water vapor transferred through fibrous materials. Das [7,27] indicates that there are several ways: (i) Diffusion of the water vapor through the fibrous layers, (ii) Absorption, transmission and desorption of water vapor by the fibers and (iii) Transmission of water vapor by forced convection. Diffusion of water vapor molecules through air spaces in fabrics is a major contributor to moisture vapor transport.…”

“…Multi-layers fabric of hydrophilic and hydrophobic material was developed in order to improve its moisture management [20,21]. Various techniques have been emphasized to develop better moisture management such as combining Polyester with different natural fiber types, microfiber, Bi-component fiber, especially different cross-section, plasma treatment and applying surface finish [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. A material such as cellulose that is produced by both plants and bacteria on a totally sustainable basis assumes great significance for future materials development [41,42].…”

Design and development of a Computerized Wicking Tester for longitudinal wicking in fibrous assemblies

“…Wicking helps in spreading the moisture throughout the fabric for faster evaporation to make the contact surface dry, and hence, provides comfort to the wearer. The wicking of a liquid on any fibrous substrate is regulated by the properties of the fluid, surface interactions characteristics of fluid and fibre, and shape or size of the pores (Das, Das, Kothari, Fangueiro, 2011a, 2011bDas, Das, Kothari, Fangueiro, & de Araújo, 2007a, 2007b, 2008, 2009a, 2009bHsieh, 1995;Marchal, 2001). Knowledge of the flow properties of liquid on textile is essential in the design and application of engineered products.…”