Improving Comfort Attributes of Knitted Polyester Fabrics Using ZnO Nano-particle
Aziza Hussien, Rania El-Newashy, Salwa Mowafi, Marwa Abou Taleb, Hosam El‐Sayed
Abstract
This work was adopted to enhance the electrical conductivity of knitted polyester fabrics byincorporation of zinc oxide nanoparticle (NPs) into the fibre vicinity. Five structures ofPIQUE knitted polyester fabric of variable loop length were treated with ZnO NPs usingexhaustion technique. The treated fabrics were sewn using two types of stitches: namely threethread overedge (504) and five thread full overedge (516). The comfort attributes of the treatedfabrics; Viz. electrical conductivity, air permeability, and water permeability were assessed.Physico-mechanical properties of the different treated and untreated fabrics were also evaluated.Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to trace the amounts of zinc ions incorporated onto thedifferent treated structures. The alteration in the functional groups of the modified samples wasmonitored by FTIR spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersiveX-ray spectroscopy/elemental mapping were adopted to confirm the inclusion and distribution ofZnO NPs onto the modified polyester fabric. The treated polyester knitted fabrics showedenhanced electrical conductivity with improved comfort properties without adverse effect on theirperformance and appearance attributes.