Study Of “Mist Polymerization” For Improving Abrasion Resistance Of Textiles

Cotton fabrics and PET fabrics are comprehensive used in our daily life, which makes the wear-resistant modification of them practically important. The main methods to fabricate wear-resistant fabric surface are sol-gel, chemical vapor deposition, solution immersion and many others. However, these approaches also have serious limitations, such as using large dosage of chemicals, increased cost,difficulty in large scale production, affect the inherent properties of the fabrics and so on. In our work, we try to use “mist polymerization” technique to improve the abrasion resistance of cotton fabrics and PET fabrics.Firstly, PrePUs are synthesized via the reaction of TDI and EG in acetone. Then the PrePUs are atomized and deliverd to the cotton surface, heated at 60 oC for 2 h.The surface topography, abrasion resistance, water absorption and vapor transmission of the original cotton fabrics and modified cotton fabrics are in sequence tested, and the results show that the thickness of the PU coatings is about400 nm and the abrasion resistance of the modified cotton fabric have been increase more than one time compared to that of the original cotton fabric. Besides, the water absorptivity and vapor transmissibility of the modified fabrics are slightly decreased,about 84 % and 91 % of the pristine cotton fabrics, respectively.It is more difficult to modified PET fabrics via “mist polymerization” than cotton fabrics. However, when PET fabrics are firstly modified with thanol amine, we can still use “mist polymerization” to increase the abrasion resistance of PET fabrics.After modified by “mist polymerization”, the thickness of the PU coatings on the PET surface is about 500 nm. And the abrasion resistance of the modified PET fabrics have been increase about 90 % compared to that of the original PET fabric. Besides, the water absorptivity and vapor transmissibility of the modified PET fabrics are still keep well, about 87 % and 82 % of the pristine PET fabrics, respectively.“Mist polymerization” technique has several advantages such as low damage ofthe original materials, simple operation, less monomer dosage and so on. It has great potential application in the surface modification of textile fabrics.