| Author: | Song, Linfeng |
| Title: | A design-driven creation of an innovative and environment-friendly nature-based yarn with moisture wicking and fast-drying effect |
| Advisors: | Li, Lilly (ITC) |
| Degree: | M.Phil. |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Subject: | Moisture in textiles Textile fabrics -- Technological innovations Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Institute of Textiles and Clothing |
| Pages: | xiv, 114 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Wicking in textiles is a key evaluation of fabric moisture permeability. Moisture transfer in textiles has been found to be dominative to the comfort-maintaining mechanism of apparel products, especially for sportswear that has high requirements for sweat transfer. To further develop apparel products with better moisture wicking performance, various approaches such as using polymers, multilayer fabrics, spacer knitting structures, and chemical additives have been proposed by both the academia and industry to help athletes achieve excellence. However, limitations exist in various aspects and a better solution is always required. Among all the moisture transport manipulation methods, fiber modification is the most direct and ideal way to improve fabric behavior since the performance of fabric is dominated by its main fibers' properties. By selecting appropriate fibrous material, fabrics with high moisture wicking ability can be achieved via various weaving constructions and thus less structure and design limitations during garment design processes. Synthetic fibers are widely used in current market-available sportswear products for the past decades due to their low cost and convenient moisture permeability management although they were found to be more suitable for bacteria growth. On the other hand, cotton fibers exhibit natural antibacterial properties as well as softness, comfortable touch feeling and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, cotton fibers are usually not preferred in sportswear because the tendency to retain water and cause burden, bringing challenges to the wearing experience under sweat condition. In our previous work, an innovative spinning technology was proposed with the aim to develop a structure-based fiber modification system for ecological yarns with high-moisture wicking properties and environmental sustainability. The developed yarn constructions combined the advantages of cotton and synthetic fibers, showing significant improvements on moisture wicking performance, fast-drying effects as well as high commercial values.In this thesis, a design-driven yarn structure spinning model for moisture wicking improvement was established by using a helically shaped covering material to limit the inter-fiber spacings of the staple core yarn so that an improvement in effective capillary channels with better continuity can be achieved. A total of six batches of yarns were prepared and studied, whose results were adopted to revise the spinning parameters so that an optimal spinning method was explored. The method was developed based on yarn construction by pure physical modification involving yarn twisting technique and covering technology. Multiple materials were attempted and the results showed no specific limitations to the raw materials. The wicking heights of novel yarns were significantly improved compared with the control groups. Experiments of the fabrics made in accordance showed consistent results with the yarns. The structure of yarns was compared and analyzed using resin setting, optical microscope, infrared camera and MetLab. The curves of wicking heights versus time matched the square law with successful improvements on both wicking heights and rates of the novel yarns. The spinning parameters were modified for each batch of yarns and fast-drying effect was achieved. Besides, supplementary experiments about cotton shrinkage and yarn twisting were designed to have a better understanding on factors related to washing and spinning. The preferred spinning parameters were established based on series of experimental results. The study in this thesis offered the possibility to a fiber moisture performance modification with high efficiency, low cost and environmental sustainability. Through various stages of experiments, the optimal spinning parameters were investigated, which provided methods and established foundations for subsequent research. The yarn performance is directly improved without affecting the subsequent processes of knitting, dyeing and garment design. In summary, the research conducted in this thesis has promoted the exploration and development of the innovative spinning technology, which would be more than promising in moisture wicking materials in the apparel market. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
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