Moisture Control & Breathable Finish

1. Welcome To My Presentation
On
Moisture Control & Breathable
Finish.
Submitted By
Avik Kumar Dhar
ID-2016-2-3-002
M.sc. In Textile Engineering
Wet Processing Engineering
Submitted To
Dr. M. Forhad Hossain
Associate Professor & Head
Dept. Of Wet Processing Engineering
Bangladesh University Of Textiles

2. Contents
 Introduction of Moisture control & Breathable finish.
 Wetting ,Wicking and MVTR & RET.
 Aims of Breathable Finish
 Desired Attributes of Moisture Management Fabric
 How to Make a Waterproof and Breathable Fabric???
 Perspiration Rates and Activities.
 Moisture Transport Mechanism.
 FactorAffecting Moisture Transport.
 Types of Waterproof Breathable Fabric.
 Water Proof Fabric Made From Different Fibers.
 Functional fields of moisture management technique.
 Gore –Tex In Active Sportswear.
 Why breathable fabrics fail???
 Conclusion

3. Breathability:-
It is the ability of a fabric to allow moisture vapour to be
transmitted through the material. Moisture control & breathable finish
can be defined as the controlled movement of water vapour & liquid
water (perspiration) from the surface of the skin to the atmosphere
through the fabric.

4. Wetting, wicking, and moisture vapor
transmission (MVT) properties are the critical
aspects for evaluating the comfort performance
of textiles .

5. Wetting ,Wicking and MVTR
• Wettability can be defined as interaction between
liquid and the substrate before wicking.
• Wickability can be defined as the ability to
sustain capillary flow.
• MVTR is a measure of how quickly (or slowly)
moisture passes through a fabric or other
substance. It is usually measured in g/m2/day or
the mass of moisture that passes through a square
meter of fabric in 24 hours

6. RET
• RET (Resistance to Evaporative Transfer) test
This test is also known as the “sweating hot plate
test.” The test measures how much a fabric resists
letting moisture vapor through.
Since performance is based on how
much vapor is blocked, the lower the number is the
better.
The test is performed by first saturating the
fabric. The fabric is then placed over a heated and
porous metal plate. This plate is intended to mimic
human skin. The volume of the evaporated water is
then measured.

7. Aims of Breathable Finish
 To increase comfort by evaporating humidity
as early as possible.
 To protect skin from weather.
 To transport the humidity to the atmosphere as
fast as possible.
 To make the skin feel dry.

8. Desired Attributes of Moisture
Management Fabric
• Optimum heat and moisture regulation.
• Good air and water vapour permeability.
• Absence of dampness.
• Rapid drying to prevent catching cold.
• Rapid moisture absorption and conveyance capacity.
• Dimensionally stable even when wet.
• Breathability and comfort.
• Lightweight , soft and pleasant touch.

9. How to Make a Waterproof and
Breathable Fabric???
We want to prevent water molecule (liquid) to get it the fabric and
allow water vapour (gas) to pass from skin to fabric. The size of
water droplet (liquid) is 100 μm and the water vapour (gas) is
0.0004 μm and we need to make a fabric with porous space around
10 μm. In this way, it allows water vapour to pass through (from skin
to fabric) and prevent water droplet to penetrate (from outside to
fabric).

10. Perspiration Rates and Activities

11. Moisture Transport Mechanism
Moisture transportation in textiles is similar to the wicking of a liquid in
capillaries. Capillary action is determined by two fundamental properties of
the capillary:
 Its diameter and
 Surface energy of its inside face.
• The smaller the diameter or the greater the surface energy, the greater
the tendency of a liquid to move up the capillary.
• Hence, the narrower the spaces between these fibres, the greater the ability
of the textile to wick moisture.

12. Factor Affecting Moisture Transport
• Fiber type
• Cloth/ Fabric construction
• Weight /thickness of the material.
• Presence of chemical treatment.

13. Types of Waterproof Breathable
Fabric
1. Closely woven fabric
2. Micro porous membranes and coatings.
3. Hydrophilic membranes and coatings.
4. Combination of micro porous and hydrophilic
membranes and coating.
5. Retro-reflective microbeads.
6. Smart breathable fabrics.
7. Fabrics based on Biomimetics

14. Closely Woven Fabric
• It was developed in 1940s for military purposes and is known
as Ventile.
• Ventile fabric uses the finest cotton yarn, combed and piled
together.
• The yarn is woven using oxford weave.
• It can be produced from micro-denier synthetic filament yarn
also.

15. Micro Porous Membranes
-are extremely thin films
-made from polymeric material
-they have very high resistance to liquid water penetration
-allow the passage of water vapour.
-A typical membrane is only 10 μm thick.
- provide the necessary mechanical strength.
-The micro porous membranes have tiny
holes on their surface smaller than a rain
drops but larger than water vapour
molecule.
-The pore sizes ranges from 0.1 to 50mm.
-Some of the membranes are made from
Polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE polymer,
Poly-vinylidene fluoride PVDF, acrylics,
polyamino acids etc .

16.  PU (Polyurethane) is the most popular
polymer because of toughness, flexibility of
the film.
Various methods of generating micro porous
membranes and coatings are as follows :-
 Mechanical fibrillation
(only for membrane)
 Wet coagulation process.
 Thermo coagulation.
 Foam coating
(only for coating).
 Solvent extraction.
 Solubilizing one component in the mixture
(only for coating).
 RF /ion /UV or E beams radiation.
 Melt blown / Hot melt technology.
 Point bonding technology Fig- Micro porous Coating

17. Hydrophilic Membranes
-Thin films of chemically modified polyester
or polyurethane.
-These polymers are modified by the
incorporation of poly.
-The poly (ethylene oxide) constitutes the
hydrophilic part of the membrane by forming
amorphous region in the main polymer
system.
-This amorphous region acts as intermolecular
pores allowing water vapour molecules to pass
through but preventing the penetration of
liquid water due to the solid nature of the
membrane.

18. Advantages of Hydrophilic Coatings over
Laminated and Micro Porous
 It has good adhesion on textile substrate.
 High gloss.
 Water and solvent resistance.
 High moisture permeable properties and
 It is less expensive.
 A major problem with both coated and laminated breathable
fabrics is their poor wet abrasion resistance.
• Polyethylene glycol can be utilized as a relocking aid with e-
Caprolactum. Using this approach, in the present day, various
polyethylene glycols of molecular weight 400, 1000, 3000 and
6000 are used for Hydrophilic polyurethane coating.

19. Combination of Micro Porous and Hydrophilic
Membranes and Coating.
 The fabrics are coated with copolymers having both hydrophilic and
hydrophobic segments. The hydrophobic parts provide the resistance
to liquid water droplets while the hydrophilic part allows for water
vapor permeability.
 Few advantages of bicomponent micro porous films are that
- It provides added strength and toughness to films.
- It reduces the stretch which may be caused by opening of the pores
and also the moisture vapor transfer is more by mechanical means
than by chemical adsorption means.
 Some drawbacks of the films including
- Increased cost
- Stiffness and
- Reduction of breathability of the fabric.

20. Retroreflective Microbeads.
 This fabric possesses a print or coating having
retroreflective pattern areas of aligned, hemispherically
coated retroreflective microbeads.
 One patent describes how a
breathable fabric was adhered to an
array of dots, where each one of the dots
had coated retroreflective microbeads, in
such a way that the fabric breathes
from the interstices between the dots.
Fabric with Retroreflective
Microbeads

21. Smart Breathable Fabrics.
A breathable fabric with temperature dependent
response may be desirable for certain applications
where there are huge variations in temperature
over a short period of time. Such fabrics are called
smart breathable fabrics.
Phase change materials are also an important
category of smart breathable textiles.
The incorporation of these phase change materials
leads to improvements in thermal and moisture
management.

22. PCMs
Phase Change is the process of going from
one state to another, e.g. from solid to liquid
and vice versa. Any material that experiences
the process of phase change is named as Phase
Change Materials (PCM)

23. Spacer Structure
 Two separate fabric webs are joined together by spacer
threads or fibres of varying rigidity. The intermediate
zone creates a layer of air, which has an insulating and
thermoregulatory effect. Modifying the structure of the
knitted construction can alter the amount of air
incorporated in the assembly.
 Spacer fabrics are 3D fabrics .
 This creates a ventilated layer of air, allowing heat and
moisture to escape.
 Advantage is the low weight in proportion to the large
volume.

24. Spacer Structure

25. Fabrics Based on Biomimetics
Biological mechanisms are mimicked to get
desired functions.
For a breathable fabric the analog of leaf
stomata, this opens when the plant needs to increase
water vapor intake and closes when its needs to
reduce, can be used.

26. Pine cone and watch whether the spines open and close.
 In rain, the spines close up to protect the seeds inside.
 In dry, the spines open up to improve the chances of the seeds
escaping.
 Researchers at England's Bath University and the London College
of Fashion are trying to design biomimetic clothes that could work
the same way. The fabric could be made with an outer layer of tiny
spikes. When it's hot, the spikes would open up to let out the heat,
cooling you down. When it's cold, the spikes would flatten back down
to trap air and provide more effective insulation.

27. Water Proof Fabric Made From
Different Fibers
• Polyester
-Air fine Field sensor
-Polyester coolmax
-Coolpass
-Thermopile
-Microfibers
• Polypropylene
• Nylon
-Hyrofil
-Tactel
• Silk
• Wool
• Cotton
• Viscose rayon

28. Functional fields of moisture management
technique
1. Inner wears
1. Athletic wear
(active sportswear)
1. Performance wear
(climbing, walking, skiing)
1. Comfort wears
(nightwear)
1. Military
(multi-climate clothing)
1. Health
(hospital bed linens, wound dressings)
1. Agricultural technology
(Geo-textiles, greenhouse screening panels, soil moisture control)
1. Technical solutions
(Formula 1 protective clothing, fire fighting, industrial clothing)
1. Industrial
(filter & valve technology, building, packaging)
1. Upholstery
(transport)

29. Gore –Tex In Active Sportswear
 Gore –Tex membrane is used for developing active sportswear.
Gore-Tex membrane is a film like laminate with billions of
micro pores per square inch. Each pore is smaller than a water
drop, bigger than a molecule of water vapour.
 The more active we become, the more heat and moisture are
produced by our body. Breathable outerwear and footwear aids our
body’s natural cooling process by allowing perspiration vapour to
escape.
 Apparel that is not breathable causes excess moisture to
accumulate next top our body, which makes one feel
uncomfortable.
 Wetness next to our skin can be even worse in cooler temperatures,
when you become susceptible to getting chilled. These are why all
the breathing is necessary. With Gore-Tex outerwear and footwear,
you stay dry and comfortable when you are active and there is no
perspiration build up to make you cold.

30. Gore-Tex fabric is waterproof-
• Gore-Tex fabric is waterproof-
Raindrops hitting the fabric’s outer
surface are bouncing right off the top
because the fabric is totally
waterproof. They could be big
raindrops, pounding raindrops, and
they would still be bouncing off the
surface. No moisture can penetrate the
Gore- Tex fabric because the water
drops are always bigger than the micro
pores in the Gore- Tex membrane.

31. Why breathable fabrics fail???
• Moisture may not move through the fabric fast
enough.
• The “outside” humidity is too high.
• The fabric can “wet out” or become saturated
with water.

32. Conclusion
Moisture control and breathable fabric is the greatest
invention among the most useful invention for human
being. When water proof breathable fabric was
discovered, textile world realized that there is no
restriction is the textile world. Water proof breathable
fabric is very important because of playing vital role in
sportswear. This study went through the basic
mechanism and idea of moisture management and
breathable fabric, different types of breathable fabric,
the application of breathable fabric in different sectors
specially in sportswear and the impact of fiber in
breathable behaviour also. But there are still several
sectors in which breathable finish to be studied.

33. Thank You.
Any
Question????