Zinc oxide application in the textile industry: surface tailoring and water barrier attributes as parameters with direct implication in comfort performance

Abstract

The present study focuses on surface tailoring and water barrier attributes of zinc oxide (ZnO)-polyester composite textile materials. The surface properties, such as surface topography and roughness, composite compositions as well as thermal stability of ZnO-100% polyester textile composite materials treated through a padding process with different concentrations of ZnO dispersions as active agent in water and methanol were studied. The results show that 3% ZnO-textile composite material have enhanced water barrier properties compared with the other compositions; a fact which promises improved properties in terms of comfort. ZnO modification of polyester surfaces leads to a dramatic decrease in their thermal stability.