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Chemical treatments for improving adhesion between electrospun nanofibers and fabrics
Author(s) -
Varesano Alessio,
Rombaldoni Fabio,
Tonetti Cinzia,
Di Mauro Sandra,
Mazzuchetti Giorgio
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.39766
Subject(s) - nanofiber , materials science , adhesion , textile , composite material , polyamide , electrospinning , abrasion (mechanical) , polymer
Nanofiber‐coated fabrics have potential uses in filters and protective clothing. One major challenge is to ensure good adhesion of nanofibers to the fabrics achieving satisfactory durability against abrasion for practical use. This work is aimed to study adhesion mechanisms and their improvement between nanofibers and textile substrates; to achieve this goal cotton fabrics were treated with an alkali solution, while nylon fabrics were treated with ethanol. Adhesion of polyamide‐6 electrospun nanofiber layer to fabrics was evaluated by means of a peeling test. Treated fabrics showed improved bonding towards nanofibers: adhesion energy was ∼0.58 J m −2 for both untreated fabrics, and after treatments increased to 0.93 and 0.86 J m −2 for cotton and nylon ones, respectively. Optical observations revealed that nanofibers deposited on fabrics are mainly linked to external protruding fibers (i.e., fabric hairiness). Therefore, surface hairiness seems to be the critical factor limiting adhesion. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 39766.