Journal of Industrial Textiles

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and PVAc/titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanofiber mats were prepared by electrospinning process. In this study, three types of solution were used. The first was PVAc dissolved in only acetone, the second was prepared by adding TiO₂ sol into PVAc—acetone solution in sol—gel method, the third was prepared by adding ethanol into PVAc—acetone solution. The effect of solution properties such as viscosity, surface tension, and electrical conductivity on the formation and morphology of electrospun fibers was investigated. Pure PVAc had a beads-on-string structure, but the beads almost disappeared when the TiO₂ was added. Electrospun fibers had average diameters of 529, 596, 333, 303 nm for PVA/TiO₂ volume ratios of 100 : 0, 100 : 10, 100 : 20, and 100 : 30, respectively. Since the added TiO₂ precursor dispersed in ethanol solvent was in the ratio of 1 : 30, it was necessary to prepare the solution with same ratio of ethanol for contrast (ethanol is a nonsolvent of PVAc). As the concentration of ethanol increased, the average diameter of nanofibers decreased and change in the bead shape from spindle-like to spherical was observed on the whole.

In this article, an attempt has been made to design and develop four different signal transferring fabrics using plastic optical fibers (POF). The signal transferring and fabrication possibility of these optical fibers are studied and selected optical fibers are made into fabric form by four methods namely (a) sequential work with POF integrated in the fabric, (b) weaving of the POF using hand loom, (c) weaving of the POF using power loom, and (d) weaving of POF as core conductive fabrics. Novel technique for development of core-sheath conductive yarns with optical fiber as core and cotton fibers as sheath using DREF-3 friction spinning system is discussed. The signal transferring efficiency of the handloom, power loom, and sequential integrated woven POF fabrics are analyzed using the microprocessor designed with IRF14F optical receiver for bullet wound detection. The signal loss percentage of these fabrics are studied and reported using the red LED, white light LED (SPL), and laser light LED with input voltage of +5 V. These optical conductive yarns are having good scope for the development of signal transferring garment for defense personnel, telecommunication, and data transferring purpose.

Structure property correlation is a critical textile research area explored by various researchers and many factors have been proposed over the years to predict/compare/design the woven fabrics. Cross-over firmness factor (CFF) and floating yarn factor (FYF) have been recently proposed as parameters to understand weave effect on fabric properties (Morino, H., Matsudaira, M. and Furutani, M. (2005). Predicting Mechanical Properties and Hand Values from the Parameters of Weave Structures, Textile Research Journal, 75(3): 252—257). Redefined CFF and FYF factors using fabric fields in terms of interlacement index (I) and float index (F), respectively have been proposed in this article. This new approach provides better understanding of the interlacements and floats in the woven structure and further they are applied on multilayer interlocked fabrics to quantify the structural influence on the properties. Multilayer interlocked woven fabrics with different interlacement patterns have been developed. Influence of fabric structure on preform properties relevant for resin transfer molding composite manufacture, such as compression, permeability, and tensile behavior were studied with respect to the interlacement and float indices. Tensile and compression tests were conducted on universal testing machine. Liquid permeability of these structures was evaluated based on horizontal wicking and contact angle wettability tests. Results show that influence of structural factor is greater on tensile and permeability properties than the compression properties of these multilayer fabrics.

This study is to investigate thermal protection and moisture transmission of firefighter clothing and how combinations of materials influence the thermal protection and moisture transmission. An orthogonal design is applied for planning the experiment. Eight different material combinations, which simulate three-layer firefighter protective clothing system, are studied. The thermal protective performance (TPP) and water vapor transmission rate of combinations are tested. The experiment data are discussed by analysis of range and variance. Meanwhile, influence of each layer on clothing performance is also studied. Results show that outer shell fabric and moisture barrier layer have significant effects on TPP and moisture transmission property, respectively.

New back-coating formulations containing new flame-retardant systems were prepared and applied on cotton textile samples. The flammability properties of cotton samples were improved sharply by applying the new back-coating formulations. The mechanical properties of cotton samples was totally destroyed when using the flame retardant A₆ (chloro dimalonylurea phosphine oxide). By using the new back coatings B₁₁ ((A₆) chloro dimalonylurea phosphine oxide 30% with sodium carbonate 20%) and B₁₂ ((A ₆) chloro dimalonylurea phosphine oxide 20% with sodium carbonate 30%) the mechanical properties and also the flammability properties of cotton samples have been improved. The thermal analysis techniques give a fast and good indication about the expected flammability properties of back-coated cotton samples.