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Article

A Highly Breathable and Machine-Washable ePTFE-Aided Down-Proof Cotton Fabric

by
Yong Wang
1,†,
Lili Ying
1,†,
Ruixia Sun
1,*,
Changlong Li
1,
Zhenhua Ding
2 and
Zongqian Wang
1,*
1
Anhui Province College Key Laboratory of Textile Fabrics, College of Textiles and Garment, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu 241000, China
2
National Quality Supervision and Inspection Center of Functional Fiber & Textile, Anhui Province Quality Supervision and Inspection Institute, Hefei 230051, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to the work.
Coatings 2022, 12(6), 826; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12060826
Submission received: 13 May 2022 / Revised: 9 June 2022 / Accepted: 10 June 2022 / Published: 12 June 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Surface Treatment for Fabrics and Textiles)
Browse Figures
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Feather and down textiles are widely used in our daily life, especially in winter. However, they are easily drilled out from the fabric body and are difficult to machine-wash, which thereby blocks their widespread application. In order to solve these issues, a highly anti-drilling, breathable and machine-washable ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was prepared in this work, which was done by modifying a plain-weave cotton fabric with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) nanofiber membrane via point glue method. The fabrication procedure is simple, scalable and environmentally friendly, which is a prerequisite for large-scale production. The effects of tumble and washing cycles on pore size distribution and the corresponding anti-drilling behavior of the prepared down-proof fabric were systematically investigated. Furthermore, the machine washability, air permeability, thermal insulation and tensile properties of the fabric were studied. The results demonstrated that less than five drilled files escaped from the fabric surface, irrespective of tumble and/or laundering cycles, and it also has the advantages of being lightweight (<83 g/m2), having high breathability, a good thermal insulation rate (≈80%) and can be washed with surfactant by a laundry machine without explosion. Benefiting from the above characteristics, the as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric presents its potential application in the field of home textiles.

1. Introduction

In recent years, advanced materials have gained great attention in various fields, such as for improving human life and environmental remediation [1,2,3]. Down-proof fabrics, one of these advanced materials, are usually thin woven fabrics, with fine yarns and high warp/weft densities. They can prevent feather-and-down fibers inside the woven fabric bag from escaping out, and are widely used in textile clothing, home textiles and other potential fields [4,5,6,7,8]. In recent years, the anti-drilling performances of such fabrics were regulated through controlling the structural parameters such as fabric weaves [9]. However, if the gap of adjacent yarns within these textiles is larger than the diameter of the feather and down, the external pressure of the user, triangular rhomboid knot of the feather and down and the acute angle structure of the down twig and the down filament, then the anti-drilling feather and down performance will deteriorate. As a result, it is of great importance to manufacture down-proof textile fabrics with desired anti-drilling, highly breathable and machine-washable properties, and the underlying structure–property relationship should be systematically revealed.
Down-proof fabric that prevents the leakage of the down fibers from escaping are widely used in our daily life, especially in the fields of garments, bedding and thermal protection. Up to the present, down-proof fabrics can be mainly classified into the following three different strategies based on their methods of manufacturing. The first strategy is to prepare woven fabrics with high tightness using high-count yarns and high warp/weft densities. For example, 10 kinds of down-proof fabrics with high yarn counts and high densities were prepared by Dong et al. The relations between the pore size and distribution characteristics and the breathability and anti-drilling behavior of these fabrics were investigated, and the breathability-to-drilling ratio is proposed to assess the anti-drilling behavior and breathability comprehensively [9]. A high-contraction nylon fabric was prepared using the classic cold-pad batch-dyeing process by Bin et al., and the warp and weft contraction can reach about 20%. Such as-prepared fabric can be used for down-proofing and wind-proofing [10]. The key parameters (e.g., fabric thickness, fabric density, fabric coating thickness) of high-density soft breathable and anti-velvet fabric were summarized by Han et al. [11]. The seamless down-proof fabrics with square shapes were produced by Zheng et al., through reasonable production size design, woven structure design, weaving process and finishing process, etc. [12]. The second strategy is to introduce the down-proof lining (i.e., add a lining between down fibers and the covered fabric). The two-layer (the outer covered fabric and the lining layer) fabric structure can make the down fibers not be affected by moisture, maintaining the breathable state. However, the down fibers can escape out from the stitches of the lining layer, so in this case, special coating finishing is urgently required [13]. The third is surface anti-drilling coating method. It can cover the gaps between the yarns within a fabric. For example, chitosan-modified anti-drilling nylon fabrics were prepared by Chen et al. [14]. The nanomembrane layer of chitosan was coated onto the surface of nylon fabric, and the effects of the degree of deacetylation of chitosan and molecular mass on the anti-drilling behavior of such fabrics was evaluated as per the China Standard GB/T 14272-2011. The experimental results indicated that within the testing range, the higher the deacetylation degree, the poorer the anti-drilling, whereas the higher the molecular mass, the better the anti-drilling. However, the surface-coating method may go along with poor air permeability, and fabrics prepared by this method have poor anti-drilling durability since the coatings are easily washed off following mechanical actions such as washing, bending, abrading, etc.
Materials with nanostructures may have unexpected character [15,16]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is a dearth of literature on the preparation of a two-layer down-proof fabric, by laminating a nanofiber membrane layer onto the surface of a commercial textile fabric. Inspired by the previous work [17,18,19,20,21], the present research work attempts to fabricate and evaluate the feasibility of a highly breathable and machine washable ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric, prepared by modifying a cotton fabric with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) nanofiber membrane via point glue method. The effects of tumble and washing cycles on the anti-drilling performance of such fabric were systematically studied, and the relationship between pore size distribution characteristics and anti-drilling behavior was systematically clarified under the above conditions. Furthermore, the machine washability, air permeability, thermal insulation, and tensile behaviors of such fabric were studied. Such work may provide support for further development of anti-drilling fabrics.

2. Experimental Section

2.1. Materials and Reagents

Herein, a cotton fabric with plain weave was obtained from Hangzhou Jimei Dyeing and Printing Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, China, and the detailed structural features and characteristics were given in Table 1. The ePTFE nanofiber membrane with the density of 7.6 g/m2 was obtained from Shanghai Jinyou Fluorine Materials Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China. The moisture curing polyurethane (PUR) hot melt adhesive (purity: 95%) was purchased from Hefei Cobes Industries Co., Ltd., Hefei, China, with the molecular weight of about 30,000 kDa Sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS; analytically pure (AR), 99%) was obtained from Shanghai Macklin Biochemical Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China.

2.2. Preparation of ePTFE-Aided Down-Proof Cotton Fabric

Here, the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was manufactured on a glue sprayer (Quanzhou Nuoda Machinery Co., Ltd., Quanzhou, China). As graphically illustrated in Figure 1a, the preparation procedure of such down-proof fabric involves two main steps. Based on our preliminary trials, an optimized processing parameter was obtained as follows: First, the PUR adhesive was melted at 135 °C, then a lot of PUR glue points with a diameter of 0.2 mm were regularly attached onto one face of the cotton fabric. The density and glue spraying amount were 60 mesh/inch and 2 g/m2, respectively. Second, an ePTFE nanofiber membrane (already subjected to two-way drafting) covered the PUR glue points, and then the two-layer fabric was further processed with a pressure of 1.0 kg/cm2 (see Figure 1b). Finally, an ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was fabricated (Figure 1c). Further, since the ePTFE layer is very difficult to completely peel off from cotton fabric surface with a higher piece, here in this work, the bonding strength was evaluated qualitatively. In addition, as seen from Figure 1d, the ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric with a small piece consists of a cotton fabric and an ePTFE layer, observed by the peeling test by using a sharp blade.

2.3. Characterization

2.3.1. Surface Morphology Observation

Surface morphology of ePTFE nanofiber membrane and the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric were observed using scanning electron microscope (S-4800, Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan).

2.3.2. Contact Angle Test

The contact angle (CA) of fabric samples were measured by dropping a droplet of 3 μL (e.g., deionized water, SDBS solution of 10 g/L) onto the fabric surface with the use of a contact angle instrument (OSA 60 type, LAUDA scientific, Lauda-Königshofen, Germany) at a room temperature of 25 °C. In order to observe the dynamic wetting process, a video camera was used. With the aid of the camera, the liquid spread in fabric was then captured in real time, and the captured images of liquid spreading at different time intervals were processed using Adobe Premiere Pro 2020 software.

2.3.3. Vertical Wicking Test

Vertical wicking behavior of both ePTFE-aided cotton fabric and pure polyester fabric was measured based on the China Standard FZ/T 01071-2008. Strip fabric samples of 15 mm width × 100 mm length have been prepared, and then the bottom ends of both fabric strips were immersed in ultrapure water, and their top ends were kept fixed. The climbing height of water on fabric surface was recorded after 10 min.

2.3.4. Pore Size Distribution of Fabrics

Based on the Standard ASTM F316-2003, the pore size distribution was determined for fabric samples including pure cotton fabric and ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric under different events (e.g., cyclic tumble and washing tests) using a capillary flow porometer (Porous Materials, Inc., Ithaca, NY, USA, model CFP-1100A) using 75% alcohol as wetting fluid. Three replicates were tested for each.
Note that, liquids having similar surface tension can be viewed as wetting fluids [15,16]. Since the surface tension of 75% alcohol was about 20 Dynes/cm, which is similar to Silwick (20.1 Dynes/cm), Galwick (15.9–16.9 Dynes/cm) and polydimethylsiloxane (20 Dynes/cm), the 75% alcohol was used to wet the fabric samples.

2.3.5. Anti-Drilling Performance Test

The anti-drilling performance of as-prepared down-proof fabric was evaluated using a YG819N anti-drilling testing machine (Shaoxing libixin Instrument Co., Ltd., Shaoxing, China) with a rotating speed of 45 r/min, as per Part 2: Tumble test of China Standard GB/T 12705.2-2009. The fabric sample bags were prepared using a sewing machine with a needle density of 10 stitches/cm, leaving the bag opening for filling processing with 80% white duck down fibers of 50 g. Finally, the feather-and-down bags were prepared with effective size of 30 cm × 30 cm. They were then placed in a rotary tester with 10 hard rubber balls to simulate various pressures and friction during the actual wear in one cycle with 1000 tumble tests. Repetitions of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cycles were conducted using the same process. After the test, the number of the feather-and-down roots drilled out of the fabric bag was counted and its anti-drilling was analyzed.

2.3.6. Laundering Test

First, the prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric in bag form was put into a washing machine (Hefei Whirlpool Sanyo Electric Appliance Co., Ltd.,, Hefei, China), and then the phosphor-free detergent containing fluorescent whitening agents without enzyme, about 20 g, was added. After that, the general washing mode was turned on until the washing time reached the predetermined value. The cyclic laundering tests were performed using the same processes.

2.3.7. Air Permeability Test

The air permeability of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric were carried out using a YG(B)461E automatic fabric permeability tester (Wenzhou Darong textile instrument Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China) as per China Standard GB/T 5453-1997. The effective area of the fabric samples was 20 cm2, and the pressure difference was set to 100 Pa. A total of 10 different positions were randomly selected, and the average value of each sample was calculated and analyzed.

2.3.8. Water Vapor Permeability Test

Based on GB/T 12704.2-2009, 50 mL media bottles (Fisher Scientific, Hampton, NH, USA), filled with 34 mL distilled water, were sealed by the textile samples using open-top caps and silicone gaskets (Corning). The sealed bottles were then placed into an environmental chamber. A temperature of 35 °C and relative humidity (30 ± 10%) inside the chamber were held. The total mass of the bottles together with the samples was measured periodically. The reduced mass, corresponding to the evaporated water, was then divided by the exposed area (5 cm in diameter) to derive the water vapor transmission rate.

2.3.9. Thermal Insulation Test

Thermal insulation behavior of our as-prepared down-proof fabric and the commercial down-proof fabric made of pure polyester or cotton fiber were conducted by using a YG(B)606E flat fabric heat retention tester (Wenzhou Darong textile instrument Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China). The feather and down was filled into an ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric bag, a polyester fabric bag and a cotton fabric bag, respectively, with a size of 30 cm × 30 cm, according to the Chinese Standard GB/T 11048-2018. Each fabric bag was sealed and tiled in the specified area. The temperature was set to 25 ± 5 °C, and the relative humidity was set to 65 ± 5%. Finally, three indices, that is thermal insulation rate (%), CLO (K·m2/W) and heat transfer coefficient (W/K·m2). could be directly obtained. Three triplicates were carried out and the average value was obtained.

2.3.10. Tensile Test

A strip fabric sample (50 mm in width × 200 mm in length) was placed into the jaws of a YG026D-250 universal mechanical machine (Wenzhou Fangyuan Instrument Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China) and extended at a speed of 100 mm/min until its complete failure, based on the China Standard GB/T 3923.1-2013. Three replicates were tested.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Macro-Micro Structures of Down-Proof Fabric

As shown from the SEM images in Figure 2(a-1–a-3), the down fiber exhibited a fluffy texture and the inner region can store some still air, which makes it a natural thermal insulation material. Figure 2(b-1) shows the optical image of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric. The ePTFE membrane side and cotton side of the fabric were white, indicating the color properties of the cotton fabric were not affected by the ePTFE nanofiber membrane finishing process. As shown in the Figure 2(b-2), on the whole, the nano-scale pores on the ePTFE membrane side of the as-prepared down-proof fabric were uniformly distributed, which is prerequisite for effective air permeability. Moreover, the weight of as-prepared fabric was less than 83 g/m2, indicating its light weight. Furthermore, the calculated diameter, pore size and porosity of the ePTFE nanofibers were summarized in the inset. As seen, the ePTFE nanofibers had diameters of 10~90 nm, pore diameters of 0.1~2 μm and a porosity of 60~80%. As is known, the size of the feather-and-down fiber was much larger than the pore diameter in the ePTFE membrane side of the down-proof fabric. Moreover, the pores and fibers penetrated each other to form the laminated network structure in the ePTFE membrane side of the fabric. These results demonstrate that the as-prepared down-proof fabric can theoretically prevent feather drilling down. In addition, Figure 2(c-1–c-3) indicate that the amount of glue did not penetrate into the back of cotton fabric, which indicates that the point glue method will not affect the appearance and wearability of the fabric.

3.2. Effect of Tumble Cycles on Anti-Drilling Performance of Fabric

The effect of tumble cycles on anti-drilling performance of as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was investigated. According to the China Standard GB/T 12705.2-2009, the anti-drilling property of down-proof fabric is poor if more than 15 drilled piles escape from the fabric surface. As shown in Figure 3a, the number of feather-and-down fibers drilled out from the two-fabric surface (i.e., ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric and pure cotton fabric) was significantly different, demonstrating the better anti-drilling performance of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric compared with the pure cotton fabric.
In addition, the comparison of anti-drilling results between ePTFE-aided down-poof cotton fabric and other commercial down-proof fabrics [9] was summarized in Table 2. As seen from Table 2, the number of drilled piles of our prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric was significantly lower than those high-density woven fabrics made of pure cotton fiber yarns, or warp cotton fiber yarn/weft polyester fiber yarn.
The air permeability of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric following tumble cycles was studied in Figure 3b. It is believed that winter clothes with air permeability of less than 10 mm/s have excellent wind resistance. In addition, according to the China Standards GB/T 1193-2012 and QB/T 1196-2012, an air permeability of fabric higher than 5 mm/s is regarded as excellent air permeability behavior. As can be seen, the air permeability of our as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric is between 5–10 mm/s, irrespective of different tumble cycles, indicating the excellent wind resistance and air permeability. In addition, an increase of tumble cycles of down-proof fabric resulted in an increased air permeability, marginally. There is a positive relationship between air permeability and pore size distribution characteristics. The results in Figure 3d–g indicate that the pore size distribution varies substantially as the tumble cycles increase. The distribution peak shifts towards the right (that is to say, the pore sizes of fabric increase with an increase of tumble cycles), which will contribute to the improvement of fabric air permeability. However, the value of air permeability was only 8.2 mm/s after five tumble cycles, which is also responsible for the varying anti-drilling performance of our prepared down-proof fabric.
To reveal the underlying mechanism of varying anti-drilling behavior of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric following different tumble cycles, the pore size distributions of samples following different tumble cycles were revealed in Figure 3c–g. As shown in Figure 3c, the pure cotton fabric has a pore size of 12–15 μm, and the distribution shape is less steeper than those in ePTFE-aided cotton fabric (see Figure 3d–g). However, for ePTFE-aided cotton fabric irrespective of different tumble cycles (Figure 3d–g), on the whole, the pore size was much smaller and the distribution shape is much steeper. Moreover, the size of micropores became larger with the increasing tumble cycles. For example, the main pore size increased from 0~0.5 μm to 2~3 μm when the cyclic number was increased from 0 up to 5 cycles. However, the size of the above micropores is still smaller than a down fiber, indicating that our ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric samples, irrespective of tumble cycles, possess better anti-drilling behavior compared with the cotton fabric.
In addition, the areal weight and thickness values of the down-proof fabric before and after tumble cycles were listed in Table 3.

3.3. Effect of Washing Cycles on Anti-Drilling Performance of Fabric

The effect of washing cycles on anti-drilling property of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was investigated. According to the China Standard GB/T 12705.2-2009, similar to the results of ePTFE-aided fabric following tumble cycles, fewer than 5 drilled piles escaped from the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric surface following different washing cycles, indicating that our down-proof fabric has better anti-drilling feather-and-down characteristics compared with the pure cotton fabric.
To reveal the underlying mechanism of varying anti-drilling behavior of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric, the pore size distributions of samples following different washing cycles were presented in Figure 4a–d. As can be seen, the pore size distribution was non-discrete. The pore size of fabric became larger with the increasing washing cycles. The fraction of pores with sizes between 0 and 0.5 μm reduced, whereas the fraction of pores with sizes between 0.5 and 1 μm increased with an increasing of washing cycles. However, the difference was not significant, indicating the better anti-drilling performance of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric compared with the pure cotton fabric.
In addition, the areal weight and thickness values of the down-proof fabric before and after washing cycles are listed in Table 4.

3.4. Machine Washable Behavior of Down-Proof Fabric

As seen from Figure 5a,b, a droplet of distilled water remains on the ePTFE surface of our prepared down-proof fabric and pure cotton fabrics within 4 s. However, a droplet of SDBS detergent solution disappeared rapidly within 1 s on the surface of the ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric, whilst it disappeared slowly for polyester fabric. From this perspective, our as-prepared ePTFE-aided fabric exhibits machine-washable behavior. The underlying mechanism of the wicking-enhanced effect by adding SDBS surfactant is graphically illustrated in Figure 5c; the surfactant can effectively improve the wetting behavior of textile surface [22,23,24]. Furthermore, as seen in Figure 5d, the vertical wicking height of ePTFE-aided fabric can reach 4.5 cm, whereas the height of pure polyester fabric cannot be seen, indicating the better wicking behavior of the ePTFE-aided cotton fabric.
In addition, the two fabrics were washed by hand, as shown in Figure 5e,f. As can be seen, the polyester fabric feather-and-down bag easily exploded when it bulged in the washing-powder solution, while the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric feather-and-down bag was completely soaked in washing-powder solution with a short time to avoid explosion. All the above results indicated that the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric exhibited excellent washability as a feather-and-down bag, indicating its great potential in home textiles.

3.5. Water Vapor Permeability of Down-Proof Fabric

During the actual use, the water vapor permeability of the feather-and-down textile fabric should be analyzed [25]. The water vapor transmission behavior of fabrics were tested based on the testing method proposed by Cai et al. [26]. Referring to Figure 6a, the total transmission increased linearly with time, irrespective of fabric types considered. The transmission rate remains essentially constant with time. As shown in Figure 6b, when the containers containing ammonia and hydrochloric acid, respectively, were covered with our prepared fabric, ammonium chloride with white smoke can be seen, indicating excellent air permeability.
The gas permeation mechanism of the fabric is shown in Figure 6c. Three manners, including Knudsen diffusion [27,28,29], Poiseuille flow [30,31] and surface diffusion [32,33,34], allowed gas permeation across the down-proof fabric. A low pressure and too-small pore size resulted in gas molecule collision with the inner wall of the gap, thereby forming Knudsen diffusion. However, when the gas molecules entered the pore size of the ePTFE nanofiber membrane side of the composite fabric, the viscous flow between gas molecules played a dominant role and became the dominant gas molecular flow method. At the same time, diffusion flow across different directions was observed due to the interaction between the gas molecules and the ePTFE nanofiber membrane surface, which also plays an auxiliary role in gas permeation.
Figure 6d shows the waterproof and moisture permeability mechanism of down-proof fabric. The ePTFE nanofiber membrane side exhibited a micro-pore diameter of 0.1~2 μm, while the molecular diameter of water droplets is 100~10,000 μm, such that the water droplets had difficulty penetrating the ePTFE nanofiber membrane side. However, the molecular diameter of water vapor was approximately 40 nm, thereby allowing the water vapor to easily flow through the ePTFE nanofiber membrane side of fabric. This mechanism is one of the decisive factors for generating a waterproof and moisture-permeable down-proof fabric.

3.6. Thermal Insulation Behavior of Down-Proof Fabric

Usually, thermal insulation rate, CLO and heat transfer coefficient are the three main indices to assess the thermal insulation behavior of textile materials. As seen in Figure 7, the thermal insulation behavior of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric was higher than these of cotton bag and polyester bag. The special laminated structure of the ePTFE membrane on the ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric can prevent air convection; in that case, the thermal insulation rate reaches 79.4%. Furthermore, the ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric has a better CLO and heat transfer coefficient, shown in Figure 7b,c. These results demonstrated that the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric has good comfort and warmth retention.

3.7. Tensile Behavior of Down-Proof Fabric

The tensile behavior of the ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric and the pure cotton fabric was investigated in Figure 8. As can be seen, on the whole, there is no significant difference of tensile strength between the two fabrics. By comparison, the ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric exhibits better tensile properties on both breaking strength and extension. A possible reason is given: the covered ePTFE layer membrane of ePTFE-aided fabric makes a positive contribution to the tensile performances.

4. Conclusions

In this work, a lightweight (<83 g/m2), anti-drilling ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric was manufactured by the combination of ePTFE membrane with micro/nano structures and a commercial cotton woven fabric via point glue method. The fabrication procedure is simple, scalable and environmentally friendly, which is prerequisite for mass production. Furthermore, the prepared fabric exhibits excellent anti-drilling behavior (less than five drilled files, irrespective of cyclic tumble or laundering tests). It also exhibits good machine washability and air/moisture permeability properties. More importantly, the thermal insulation rate of the fabric reaches a value of up to 79.4%, indicating its good heat preservation.
Since the fabric pore size is an important parameter, fabrics woven at different patterns with different yarns of the count, fiber types and texture might be further investigated in future work. Similarly, ePTFE membranes with different pore size values should be studied to determine the optimum pore size for the down-proof property. In addition, the effect of glue amount on the anti-drilling behavior following cyclic tests should be investigated. Such fundamental works are expected to provide a deep understanding of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric products.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, R.S. and Z.W.; methodology, R.S., Z.W. and C.L.; investigation, Y.W. and L.Y.; writing—original draft preparation, Y.W. and L.Y.; writing—review and editing, R.S. and Z.W.; supervision, R.S. and Z.W.; project administration, R.S. and Z.W.; funding acquisition, R.S., Z.W. and Z.D. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Research funding project for academic and technological leaders in Anhui Province (2020H218), Academic funding project for young and middle-aged top talents in disciplines (majors) of colleges and universities in Anhui Province (gxbjZD2020075), Key Research and Development Projects of Anhui Province (202104f06020003, 202004a06020055, 2022a05020029), Wuhu Science and Technology Plan Project (2020yf51), Postdoctoral Research Project of Anhui Province (2021A486), and Special Program for Technical Support of the State Administration for Market Regulation (2020YJ016).

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement

Data are contained within the article.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Coatings 12 00826 g001 550
Figure 1. (a) Schematic and (b) real process of fabrication of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric; (c) real photo; (d) the cotton fabric layer and ePTFE layer of such fabric.
Figure 1. (a) Schematic and (b) real process of fabrication of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric; (c) real photo; (d) the cotton fabric layer and ePTFE layer of such fabric.
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Coatings 12 00826 g002 550
Figure 2. (a-1) Optical morphology and (a-2,a-3) SEM images of down fiber; (b-1) optical morphology and (b-2,b-3) SEM images of ePTFE nanofiber membrane side of down-proof fabric; (c-1) optical morphology and (c-2,c-3) S EM images of the cotton side of the fabric.
Figure 2. (a-1) Optical morphology and (a-2,a-3) SEM images of down fiber; (b-1) optical morphology and (b-2,b-3) SEM images of ePTFE nanofiber membrane side of down-proof fabric; (c-1) optical morphology and (c-2,c-3) S EM images of the cotton side of the fabric.
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Coatings 12 00826 g003a 550Coatings 12 00826 g003b 550
Figure 3. (a) Number of drilled piles of pure cotton fabric and ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric respectively; (b) air permeability of down-proof fabric following different tumble cycles; (c) pore size distribution of pure cotton fabric; (d–g) pore size distribution of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric following different tumble cycles, respectively.
Figure 3. (a) Number of drilled piles of pure cotton fabric and ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric respectively; (b) air permeability of down-proof fabric following different tumble cycles; (c) pore size distribution of pure cotton fabric; (d–g) pore size distribution of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric following different tumble cycles, respectively.
Coatings 12 00826 g003aCoatings 12 00826 g003b
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Figure 4. (a–d) Pore size distribution of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric following 0, 1, 3 and 5 washing cycles, respectively.
Figure 4. (a–d) Pore size distribution of ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric following 0, 1, 3 and 5 washing cycles, respectively.
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Coatings 12 00826 g005 550
Figure 5. (a,b) Contact angle of two fabrics on contact with deionized water and water-SDBS, respectively; (c) washable mechanism of ePTFE-aided fabric; (d) vertical wicking results; (e) laundering simulation of polyester bag; and (f) the as-prepared down-proof fabric bag.
Figure 5. (a,b) Contact angle of two fabrics on contact with deionized water and water-SDBS, respectively; (c) washable mechanism of ePTFE-aided fabric; (d) vertical wicking results; (e) laundering simulation of polyester bag; and (f) the as-prepared down-proof fabric bag.
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Figure 6. (a) Water vapor transmission rate results of different fabric samples; (b) optical images of water vapor permeability of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric; (c) underlying mechanism of gas transmission of ePTFE-aided fabric; (d) mechanism of the waterproofness and moisture-permeability of ePTFE-aided fabric.
Figure 6. (a) Water vapor transmission rate results of different fabric samples; (b) optical images of water vapor permeability of ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric; (c) underlying mechanism of gas transmission of ePTFE-aided fabric; (d) mechanism of the waterproofness and moisture-permeability of ePTFE-aided fabric.
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Figure 7. (a) Thermal insulation rate; (b) CLO value; and (c) heat transfer coefficient of as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric and the two commercial down-proof fabrics.
Figure 7. (a) Thermal insulation rate; (b) CLO value; and (c) heat transfer coefficient of as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof fabric and the two commercial down-proof fabrics.
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Figure 8. Comparison of breaking strength of different fabric samples.
Figure 8. Comparison of breaking strength of different fabric samples.
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Table
Table 1. Specifications of the woven fabrics.
Table 1. Specifications of the woven fabrics.
Fabric CodesYarn Count
(Tex)		Warp × Weft Density
(Ends/cm × Picks/cm)		Thickness
(mm)		Mass per Unit Area (g/m2)
Cotton fabric9.72 × 9.7235.4 × 34.60.1672.8
Polyester fabric10.18 × 9.8433.5 × 31.50.25102
ePTFE nanofiber membrane//0.027.6
ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric//0.1882.4
Table
Table 2. Comparison of anti-drilling performance of as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric and published down-proof fabrics.
Table 2. Comparison of anti-drilling performance of as-prepared ePTFE-aided down-proof cotton fabric and published down-proof fabrics.
No.MaterialTexper/10 cmAperture
Size/μm		Number of Drilled Piles
WarpWeftWarpWeftWarpWeft
1cottonPET7.35.69606307.922
2cottonPET7.35.69537685.115
3cottonPET14.611.85713194.39
4cottonPET14.65.657161011.035
5cottonPET9.78.255151211.942
6cottoncotton4.94.910359335.210
7cottoncotton5.88.190670910.223
8cottoncotton5.88.19067288.521
9cottoncotton5.88.19067485.411
10cottoncotton9.78.155127112.350
11This work0.1–2<5
Table
Table 3. Areal weight and thickness values of fabric following different tumble cycles.
Table 3. Areal weight and thickness values of fabric following different tumble cycles.
Tumble CyclesAreal Weight (g/m2)Thickness (mm)
082.40.18
182.40.18
382.20.17
581.90.15
Table
Table 4. Areal weight and thickness values of fabric following different washing cycles.
Table 4. Areal weight and thickness values of fabric following different washing cycles.
Washing CyclesAreal Weight (g/m2)Thickness (mm)
082.40.18
182.40.18
382.20.17
581.90.15
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MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, Y.; Ying, L.; Sun, R.; Li, C.; Ding, Z.; Wang, Z. A Highly Breathable and Machine-Washable ePTFE-Aided Down-Proof Cotton Fabric. Coatings 2022, 12, 826. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12060826

AMA Style

Wang Y, Ying L, Sun R, Li C, Ding Z, Wang Z. A Highly Breathable and Machine-Washable ePTFE-Aided Down-Proof Cotton Fabric. Coatings. 2022; 12(6):826. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12060826

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Yong, Lili Ying, Ruixia Sun, Changlong Li, Zhenhua Ding, and Zongqian Wang. 2022. "A Highly Breathable and Machine-Washable ePTFE-Aided Down-Proof Cotton Fabric" Coatings 12, no. 6: 826. https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings12060826

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