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ENGINEERING OF TEXTILES USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Manisha A. Hira

Scientist C The Synthetic & Art Silk Mills Research Association Sasmira Marg, Worli, Mumbai 400 030

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What is Human Comfort?

A pleasant state of physiological, psychological and physical harmony between a human being and the environment Thermal comfort: One should be comfortable in a thermally neutral condition, neither gaining nor losing body heat content and with normal skin temperature in all areas

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Factors Influencing Thermal Comfort

Metabolic heat generated by the body of the wearer Wind chill in the environment Thermal insulation ability of the garment Air permeability of garment Water vapour permeability of the garment

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Mechanism of Deriving Thermal Comfort

Clothing is expected to provide thermal comfort by:
Thermal Insulation Thermal regulation

Air is the best thermal insulator Textile structures entrap air to provide thermal insulation

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Need for Engineering Thermal Comfort

A few examples to the temperature fluctuations that one could experience are as below:
The astronauts in the space shuttle traveling around the earth periodically come across the sunny side and the shady side and the corresponding temperature rise and drop. A worker in the industrial freezer compartment is equipped with clothing to protect from the freezing temperature. When this worker comes out into the normal industrial climate, he experiences overheat.

Under such periodic changes in the environmental temperature, it is practically inconvenient for the victim to keep adjusting his clothing as per the climatic demands.

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TECHNIQUES TO ENGINEER THERMAL COMFORT IN CLOTHING

Thermal insulation
High loft fibres Hollow fibres Polymeric coating Shape Memory Polymers

Thermo-regulation
Electroconductive Polymers Phase change materials

Thermal Insulation through High loft fibres

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Traditional method of providing thermal insulation Thermal insulation is directly proportional to Fabric thickness High loft fibre provide scope for air entrapment and better insulation Down fibres are commonly used Limitation is the loss of thermal capacity of these structures on wetting.

Thermal Insulation through Hollow fibres

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Synthetic hollow fibres are found to higher heat conductivity ability in the fibre axis direction as compared to transverse direction This anisotropic behaviour of hollow fibres is utilised for providing thermal insulation Hollow fibres of nylon, polyester, polypropylene and acrylic are available and can be used. This can be coupled with other insulation techniques for developing thermal protective clothing.

Thermal Insulation through Polymeric Coating

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Coating of textile substrates with expanded forms of polymers These coatings in expandable form (foams) provide scope for air entrapment Popular coating used for this purpose:
Poly vinyl chloride Poly urethane Poly tetra fluoroethylene

They are termed as breathable coating with necessary air and water vapour permeability along with water proof behaviour.

Thermal Insulation using Shape Memory Polymers (SMPs)

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Class of polymers synthesized to respond dynamically to the thermal stimuli by altering their shape. These coating are active near their glass transition temperature (Tg) These coatings have a permanent parent shape and alter to a temporary shape in response to temperature change The temporary shape alteration provides for scope of air entrapment and thermal insulation. The engineering of SMPs with Tg close to the activity temperature is essential. Available SMPs in the range are active in the range -30 C to 260 C. Styrene acrylate, cynate esters and epoxy polymer systems are generally used

Thermo-regulation using Electroconductive Polymers

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Particulate filler are added to polymers to regulate temperature Generally, ceramics are used in this case Absorb solar radiation and generate infra-red radiation to maintain body temperature. Zirconium carbide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide are popularly used

Thermo-regulation using Phase Change Materials

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Certain materials posses the ability to change their physical state from solid to liquid and vice versa within a given temperature range. In doing so, they absorb or release certain amount of heat equivalent to their latent heat and keep the substrates temperature unaltered. These chemicals, termed as Phase Change Materials (PCM), can be used for obtaining the thermophysical comfort characteristics in the fabric.

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ACTION MECHANISM OF PCMs

PCMs when incorporated in Textiles behave as:
Textile substrate

Incorporated

PCM

Hot environment

Cold environment

Important characteristics of PCMs

Phase Change Temperature

Latent Heat

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Thermal Behaviour of PCM

150 125 HEAT FLOW (mW) 100 PHASE CHANGE TEMP.

HEAT OF FUSION

75
50 25 30 35
37

40

TEMPERATURE (O C)

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Thermal Effects of PCMs

A cooling effect, caused by heat absorption of the PCM; A heating effect, caused by heating emission of PCM; A thermo-regulating effect, resulting from either heat absorption or heat emission of the PCM helping to keep the temperature of a surrounding substrate nearly constant; An active thermal insulation effect, resulting from either regulating the heat absorption or the heat emission of the PCM regulating the heat flux though the substrate while adapting to the thermal surrounding.

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PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS

Plastic crystals

Hydrated Inorganic salts like Calcium chloride hexahydrate, lithium nitrate trihydrate, etc Polyhydric alcohols like 2,2- dimethyl, 1,3-propandiol (DMP), etc

Paraffin waxes
Linear chain hydrocarbon, C8 - C24

Polyethylene Glycol, Molecular weight range 600 to 2000 PET PEG block copolymer

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Application areas for PCMs

Solar thermal energy storage for room heating Electronic circuitry to insulate the circuits from environment
Textile industry to provide thermo-regulation in textiles

Techniques for introducing PCMs in textiles

Coating of substrates Microencapsualtion in substrates

SASMIRAs approach towards Thermo- regulatory textiles

Developing Phase Change Material formulations in various active temperatures ranges High altitude applications Active wear applications High temperature applications Optimising techniques formulations in textiles of incorporating PCM

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Standardising technique of evaluating thermoregulatory behaviour of textiles with incorporated PCMs

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Microencapsulation
Finishes normally adhere to the surface of textiles and are washed off on repeated use. Microencapsulation helps to
Achieve permanency of the finishes. Also protects the core from atmospheric conditions.
CAPSULE MICROCAPSULES

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MICROENCAPSULATION
A TECHNIQUE BY WHICH MICRO PARTICULATES OR DROPLETS OF MATERIALS CAN BE ENCLOSED IN AN IMPERVIOUS CAPSULE GENERALLY, THE CAPSULE DIAMETER RANGES FROM 1 TO 60 THE CAPSULE WALL DOES NOT HAMPER THE FUNCTIONING OF PARTICULATES WITHIN IT THE PROCESS CAN BE CARRIED OUT USING

POLYMERIC COATING OF DMDHEU, PU, etc

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Techniques of Microencapsulation
Phase separation Insitu polymerisation Air suspension Spray drying
Core material Solid, liquids Approximate particle size(m) 2 - 1200

Microencapsulation method Phase separation

Air suspension
Spray drying

Solids
Solids, liquids Solids, liquids

35 - 5000
6 - 600 1 - 1500

Insitu polymerisation

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NANOTECHNOLOGY
THE TECHNOLOGY DEALS WITH DEVELOPMENT & USE OF DEVICES THAT HAVE SIZE IN THE RANGE OF NANOMETERS(10-9) SUCH MATERIALS ARE FINE IN SIZE GREATER SURFACE AREA AND RAPID IN ACTION LAYERED SILICATE, ALUMINA FIBRE, NANOTUBES OF CARBON, SILICON DUST ARE EXAMPLES OF NANOMATERIALS

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Nanoproducts
1. Nano-spun fibres
Fine fibres of nano-diameter, 100 500 nm Spun by electrospinning technique Resultant fibres in the form of
Yarns Fibre webs

Conductive fibres, filtration textiles, wound dressings and scaffolds.

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2. Nano-composites
Formed using Nanoclay or Carbon Nano tubes (1 50 nm) in matrix

Composites for aerospace Tougher and stiffer composites, ~ 500 MJ/m3 toughness and `1000 MPa modulus Improved fire resistance Polyester barrier packaging Dyeable polypropylene

NANOMATERIALS

Two Tetrahedral Si Sheet per One Aluminium Octahedral sheet.

Polymer composite with nanoplates

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3. Nano-finishes
Thin nano-scaled finishes Polymer dispersion with nanoparticle additives Provide low surface energy and minimisation of surface contact area

Self cleaning finishes - Imparting stain and water resistance to fabrics Imparting hydrophilicity to the synthetic fibres Thin responsive films

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APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
INTEGRATION OF SMART DEVICES LIKE NANOCOMPUTERS, SOLAR CELLS, MICROMETERS IN GARMENTS CONTROLLED DRUG RELEASE WITH NANODISPERSED HYDROGELS OF DRUGS AEROSPACE COMPOSITES DYEABLE POLYPROPYLENE NANO FINISHES LIKE
ANTICREASE ANTISOIL ANTIMICROBIAL THERMOREGULATORY

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