A Comparative Study on the Effect of Surface Functionalization on the Versatile Protection of Textiles

Tailoring the surface of fibrous materials has brought special performance to textiles, endowing protection against threats from either environment or in wearer’s daily routine. Different functionalization techniques, including plasma treatment, pad-knife-pad coating and laminating, have been widely used to engineer the surface of fabrics for this purpose. This study contributes a comprehensive comparison of fabrics treated by these different techniques, in terms of surface morphology, chemical components, handle, superhydrophobicity and its durability, and resistance against water, liquid, oil, chemicals and soil. The comfort of the fabrics, including air permeability and moisture management properties, was also analyzed. It has been found that these functionalization techniques brought different levels of versatile protection to textiles with the sacrifice of comfort due to the change of the surface of fabrics.