Incorporation of lotus effect on textile surfaces through superhydrophobic finishes
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Date
2017
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University of Management and Technology Lahore
Abstract
Super hydrophobic finished surfaces have gained a lot of importance in technical textile industry due to their unique chemical and multifunctional properties. Super hydrophobicity is such unique effect that is gained through the combination of surface roughness and chemical composition. Study on the super hydrophobicity of the surfaces has shown that the lotus plant is the best natural specie to mimic in order to get the water repellency property in a surface. The level of water repellency of the surfaces depends upon the contact angle between surface and water droplet (i.e. more than 150° in case of superhydrophobicity)
Such a demandable phenomenon is being practiced through multiple methods and techniques. Incorporation of superhydrophobicity into three different fabric surfaces has been the base of experiment. All the three fabric substrates were woven under similar construction composition. Similar yarn count i.e., 16 Ne were used and same weaving composition i.e., twill weave 3/1 (Z) were given for development of the surfaces for finish. TiO2 based super hydrophobic finish was be synthesised and the results were compared with commercially available water repellent finish Rucogaurd from Rudolf Chemical Pvt, Ltd. The super hydrophobic finishes were applied through the simple padding process. Different mechanical testing methods were applied to observe its mechanical strength.
Achievement in lotus plant structure imitation gave amazing result of self-cleaning property to the textile surface which will not only repel water droplets but also protect itself from the impurities. Studies shows that TiO2 based super hydrophobic finish will be most effective for attaining the best upholstery surface for exteriors and interiors.
Description
Supervised by:Dr. Mudassar Abbas
Keywords
Superhydrophobicity, Lotus plant structure, MS Thesis